China is seeking a region-wide deal with almost a dozen Pacific island nations covering policing, security and data communications cooperation when Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) hosts a meeting in Fiji next week, documents seen by Reuters showed, while an Australian official is due in Suva today.
A draft communique and five-year action plan sent by Beijing to 10 Pacific islands ahead of a foreign ministers meeting on Monday next week has prompted pushback from at least one of the invited nations, which says it showed China’s intent to control the region and “threatens regional stability.”
In a letter to 21 Pacific leaders, Federated States of Micronesia President David Panuelo said that his nation would argue the “predetermined joint communique” should be rejected, because he fears it could spark a new “cold war” between China and the West.
Wang is to visit eight Pacific island nations that China holds diplomatic ties with from today until Saturday next week.
He is to arrive today in the Solomon Islands.
The China-Pacific Island Countries Common Development Vision draft document, as well as a five-year action plan, has been circulated by Beijing ahead of the meeting in Fiji.
It says that China and the Pacific islands are to “strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the fields of traditional and nontraditional security.”
“China will hold intermediate and high-level police training for Pacific island countries through bilateral and multilateral means,” the document says.
The action plan outlines a ministerial dialogue on law enforcement capacity and police cooperation to be held this year, and China providing forensic police laboratories.
The draft communique also pledges cooperation on data networks, cybersecurity, smart customs systems and for Pacific islands to “take a balanced approach to technological progress, economic development and protection of national security.”
The communique also proposes a China-Pacific islands free-trade area, and support for action on climate change and health.
In his letter to other leaders, Panuelo said that the communique would shift Pacific islands who hold diplomatic relations with China “very close into Beijing’s orbit, intrinsically tying the whole of our economies and societies to them.”
Panuelo highlighted the risk of Pacific islands being caught in geopolitical conflict as tensions rise between the US and China over Taiwan.
“The practical impacts, however, of Chinese control over our communications infrastructure, our ocean territory and the resources within them, and our security space, aside from impacts on our sovereignty, is that it increases the chances of China getting into conflict with Australia, Japan, the United States and New Zealand,” he said.
Meanwhile, Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Penny Wong (黃英賢) is to arrive in Fiji today after the new government in Canberra put deeper ties with the Pacific at the top of its agenda.
Wong said that the trip in her first week on the job “demonstrates the importance we place on our relationship with Fiji and on our Pacific engagement.”
“I look forward to sharing our ideas on how we seek to bring together Australia’s defence, strategic, diplomatic and economic capabilities to support our region’s priorities,” she said.
In New York, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that her nation welcomes more investment in the Pacific region, but does not support increased militarization.
“We want cooperation in areas where we have shared concern, like climate adaptation and mitigation,” Ardern told reporters. “We want quality investment in infrastructure. We don’t want militarization. We don’t want an escalation in tension. We want peace and stability.”
Additional reporting by AFP and Bloomberg
The Thai government on Friday announced that Taiwanese would be allowed to stay in the country for up to 60 days per entry, under the Southeast Asian country’s visa-free program starting from today. Taiwan is among 93 countries included in the Thai visa-waiver program, which has been expanded from 57 countries, with the visa-exempt entry extended from 30 to 60 days. After taking office last year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to grant more visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of efforts to stimulate tourism. The expanded visa-waiver program was on Friday signed by Thai Minister of the Interior Anutin
BAIL APPEALS: The former vice premier was ordered to be held incommunicado despite twice being granted bail and paying a total of NT$12 million in bond The Taoyuan District Court yesterday ordered the detention of former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who is being investigated for alleged corruption while serving as Taoyuan mayor from December 2014 to December 2022, and that he be held incommunicado. The court made the ruling during a bail hearing after prosecutors appealed its bail ruling twice. Cheng on Saturday was released after posting bail of NT$5 million (US$153,818). However, after prosecutors lodged an appeal, the High Court on Monday revoked the original ruling and ordered the Taoyuan District Court to hold another bail hearing. On Tuesday, the district court granted bail to Cheng a second
PEACE AND SECURITY: China’s military ambitions present ‘the greatest strategic challenge to Japan and the world, Japan’s annual defense white paper said yesterday Japan yesterday warned that China risked escalating tensions with Taiwan with an increase in military exercises that appeared aimed in part at readying Beijing’s forces for a possible invasion. Japan’s annual assessment of security threats, including those posed by China, North Korea and Russia, comes as Taiwan closely monitors Chinese People’s Liberation Army air and sea exercises, including one with the Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. The drills are the latest in a series including maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait last year that a senior US general said would be key to any invasion. “Because of that increase in military activity,
SECURITY CONCERNS: An FBI agent said it was surprising that the shooter, whose motive remains unknown, was able to open fire before the Secret Service killed him On the heels of an apparent attempt to kill him, former US president Donald Trump yesterday called for unity and resilience as shocked leaders across the political divide recoiled from the shooting that left him injured, but “fine,” and the shooter and a rally-goer dead. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting His aides said he was in “great spirits” and doing well. “I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place,” he