Penny Wong will return to the Pacific to match China’s diplomatic advance, flying to Samoa and Tonga a few days after Beijing’s top envoy signed new agreements with island nations.
The foreign minister was sworn in on May 24 and will make her second trip to the Pacific in nine days. The period was marked by the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to five countries, a dozen bilateral agreements and a failed attempt to secure a security and trade agreement with 10 Pacific countries.
Chinese and Australian Foreign Ministers Wang Yi and Penny Wong are vying to influence the Pacific region. Credit: AP / Getty
Prior to his flight on Wednesday night, Wong said Australia understood that security in the Pacific “is the responsibility of the Pacific family, of which Australia is a part”.
“We understand that we need to work together like never before, for our peoples and for future generations,” he said.
The Chinese Foreign Minister’s visit to Samoa over the weekend involved negotiations on climate change, the recovery of the pandemic and police training. In Tonga on Tuesday, Wang pledged China’s resources to disaster management agencies, a police lab and customs inspection teams, increasing Beijing’s focus on its humanitarian and security priorities. Wang was in Vanuatu on Wednesday. China approached Vanuatu in 2018 to build a military base, but Wednesday’s talks have not yet been made public.
Wang said claims that China had plans to increase its military presence in the Pacific island countries were “complete misinformation.” A leaked draft of a security deal with the Solomon Islands in April revealed plans for China to replace ships and protect Chinese investment strongly if necessary.
“China has no intention of competing with anyone, let alone competing for geopolitical interests or creating a so-called sphere of influence,” Wang said Tuesday in Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa.
But Beijing put some Pacific island nations, such as Niue and Samoa, out of action on Monday, trying to reach an agreement across the region without enough time for consultation. Pacific leaders rejected the security and trade agreement because they had not reached a consensus, forcing Beijing to rush a position paper that removed references to policing, data security and free trade.