Pacific island-nations on Monday declined to sign the economic and security deal proposed by China and presented by foreign minister Wang Yi who is on a 10-day trip to the region.
On Monday, foreign ministers of Pacific island-nations met online in a virtual summit while Yi and his Fijian counterpart and the island nation’s prime minister Josaia V ‘Frank’ Bainimarama attended the summit in person from capital Suva.
China said that it will release a position paper listing the new developments during Yi’s trip to the region. The shelving of the so-called China-Pacific Island Countries Common Development Vision comes at a time when the US and its ally in the region Australia raised concerns regarding China’s increasing influence in the region.
While there were no direct answers as to why the deal was shelved, the Fiji PM Bainimarama said that the approach should be collective and direct, news agency abc.com.au said in a report.
“As always, we put consensus first among our countries throughout any discussion on new regional agreements. The challenges our people face will only intensify until collective solutions arise to meet them,” Bainimarama was quoted as saying by abc.com.au.
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Yi said that China never sought to impose any deal on any nation. “We are always in constant consultations with our friends … It is also China’s policy — we never impose anything on other countries … never has that happened,” Yi was quoted as saying by the news agency.
Wang Yi is headed to Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste for the next leg of his visit.
It is noteworthy that the snub to China comes after Fiji last week joined the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), increasing the group’s strength to 14. Penny Wong, Australia’s new foreign minister, who was on a visit to Suva, met Fiji PM Bainimarama where the entry of Fiji into the regional group was confirmed.
The group which has 14 members, including the Quad group of nations, seeks to thwart China’s designs to build a hegemony in the region which is home to major shipping routes and fisheries.
China earlier signed a security deal with Solomon Islands and signed deals to develop the infrastructure in Vanuatu and Samoa during Yi’s 10-day trip.
The deal encompasses everything starting from free trade with the region and developing a closer relationship with the Pacific, especially on security matters. Beijing also proposed that it would be involved in training police, cybersecurity, sensitive marine mapping and gaining greater access to natural resources.
Yi while speaking to media personnel said that the deal was shelved, standing beside Fiji’s prime minister Frank Bainimarama.
Fiji also signed deals with China but those were related to economy, trade, agriculture, fisheries, tourism, civil aviation, education, law enforcement and emergency management, news agency the Guardian reported.
(with inputs from abc.com.au, Stephen Dziedzic Twitter and the Guardian)
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