{"id":14036,"date":"2022-05-30T20:30:46","date_gmt":"2022-05-30T12:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=14036"},"modified":"2022-05-30T20:30:48","modified_gmt":"2022-05-30T12:30:48","slug":"china-fails-to-ink-security-pact-with-pacific-island-nations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/?p=14036","title":{"rendered":"China fails to ink security pact with Pacific Island nations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SUVA, May 30 \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>Talks between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and 10 Pacific Island nations failed to reach an agreement on a wide-ranging security deal today after sharp warnings the proposal would push the region into \u201cBeijing\u2019s orbit\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A virtual summit of leaders and foreign ministers was expected to discuss proposals to radically increase China\u2019s involvement in the security, economy and politics of the South Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the effort appeared to have fallen short after some regional leaders voiced deep concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs always, we put consensus first,\u201d co-host and Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said after the meeting, indicating that broad agreement would be needed before inking any \u201cnew regional agreements\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wang is in the Fijian capital Suva as part of a 10-day diplomatic blitz, as Beijing jostles with Washington and its allies over influence in the strategically vital Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of his visit, China proposed a pact that would see Beijing train Pacific Island police, become involved in cybersecurity, expand political ties, conduct sensitive marine mapping, and gain greater access to natural resources on land and in the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"pacific\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As an enticement, Beijing offered millions of dollars in financial assistance, the prospect of a China-Pacific Islands free trade agreement, and access to China\u2019s vast market of 1.4 billion people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China has pitched itself to the South Pacific as a \u201cmajor developing country\u201d that stands shoulder to shoulder with small and medium-sized nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the meeting, President Xi Jinping sent a message that China would be \u201ca good brother\u201d to the region and that they shared a \u201ccommon destiny\u201d, according to state broadcaster CCTV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in a letter to other regional leaders, President of the Federated States of Micronesia David Panuelo warned the proposed agreement was \u201cdisingenuous\u201d and would \u201censure Chinese influence in government\u201d and \u201ceconomic control\u201d of key industries.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following today\u2019s closed-door meeting, Wang did not cite the proposed \u201cCommon Development Vision\u201d document directly, but said the two sides would \u201ccontinue to have ongoing and in-depth discussions and consultations to shape more consensus on cooperation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added: \u201cChina will release its own position paper\u201d highlighting \u201cour own positions and propositions and cooperation proposals with Pacific Island countries\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wang instead announced that 10 Pacific Island nations had agreed on memorandums of understanding on China\u2019s \u201cBelt and Road\u201d infrastructure initiative and urged those worried by Beijing\u2019s intentions not to be \u201ctoo anxious and don’t be too nervous\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balancing act <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Western powers have bristled against China\u2019s move into the region, with the US State Department warning South Pacific nations to be wary of \u201cshadowy, vague deals with little transparency\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia joined the United States in urging a spurning of China\u2019s attempts to expand its security reach deep into the region, with the country’s new foreign minister warning of the \u201cconsequences\u201d of such deals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many in the Pacific are keen to maintain amicable ties with China, balancing relations between Beijing and Washington while focusing on the more urgent threat of climate change and day-to-day economic issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a joint appearance with Wang, Bainimarama hit out at those engaged in \u201cgeopolitical point-scoring\u201d that \u201cmeans less than little to anyone whose community is slipping beneath the rising seas, whose job has been lost to a pandemic or whose family is impacted by the rapid rise in the price of commodities\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All but a few of the Pacific Islands are low-lying and deeply vulnerable to sea-level rises caused by climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NMT<\/a> as reported by AFP<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SUVA, May 30 \u2013\u00a0Talks between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and 10 Pacific Island nations…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-world"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/20220530-suva_fiji-wang_yi_frank_bainimarama_pacific_nations_china-afp.jpg",800,534,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/20220530-suva_fiji-wang_yi_frank_bainimarama_pacific_nations_china-afp-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/20220530-suva_fiji-wang_yi_frank_bainimarama_pacific_nations_china-afp-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/20220530-suva_fiji-wang_yi_frank_bainimarama_pacific_nations_china-afp-768x513.jpg",640,428,true],"large":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/20220530-suva_fiji-wang_yi_frank_bainimarama_pacific_nations_china-afp.jpg",640,427,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/20220530-suva_fiji-wang_yi_frank_bainimarama_pacific_nations_china-afp.jpg",800,534,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/20220530-suva_fiji-wang_yi_frank_bainimarama_pacific_nations_china-afp.jpg",800,534,false],"newsium-slider-full":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/20220530-suva_fiji-wang_yi_frank_bainimarama_pacific_nations_china-afp.jpg",800,534,false],"newsium-featured":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/20220530-suva_fiji-wang_yi_frank_bainimarama_pacific_nations_china-afp.jpg",800,534,false],"newsium-medium":["https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/20220530-suva_fiji-wang_yi_frank_bainimarama_pacific_nations_china-afp.jpg",712,475,false]},"author_info":{"info":["Editor"]},"category_info":"Politics<\/a> World<\/a>","tag_info":"World","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14036"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14038,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14036\/revisions\/14038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmalaysiatimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}