The Pacific island countries have not signed a full-scale trade and security agreement with China after a high-level meeting between China’s foreign minister was held in Fiji on Monday afternoon. Wang Yi, and leaders of 10 Pacific countries.
China sought a comprehensive agreement that included free trade, police cooperation and disaster resilience.
Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said the Pacific nations were united in their approach.
“As always, we put consensus first among our countries during any discussion on new regional agreements,” Bainimarama said at a news conference with Wang.
“Fiji will continue to look for fertile ground for our bilateral relationship. The challenges facing our people will only intensify until collective solutions emerge to address them.
“And I am grateful to the Minister and his team for bringing the spirit of productive cooperation with them to Fiji.”
Chinese Ambassador to Fiji Qian Bo says some Pacific nations have concerns about specific elements of the far-reaching proposal.
He said China was preparing a position paper that would be released after Mr. Wang in the region.
“We are always in constant consultation with our friends … It is also China’s policy: we never impose anything on other countries … this has never happened.”
“We have signed three agreements with Fiji, all of which are related to economic development.”
More to come.
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