Samoa yesterday signed a bilateral agreement with China, promising “greater collaboration” as Beijing’s foreign minister continues a tour of the South Pacific that has sparked concern among Western allies.
The deal’s details are unclear, coming midway through a Chinese delegation’s eight-nation trip — but an earlier leaked draft agreement sent to several Pacific countries outlined plans to expand security and economic engagement.
The mission has prompted Western leaders to urge regional counterparts to spurn any Chinese attempt to extend its security reach across the region.
Photo: Samoa Observer / AFP
In a stark letter to fellow Pacific leaders, Federated States of Micronesia President David Panuelo said the agreement seems “attractive” at first glance, but would allow China to “acquire access and control of our region.”
Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) and Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa had met and discussed “climate change, the [COVID-19] pandemic and peace and security,” the Samoan government said in a press release.
Local media were invited to witness the signing of a deal, but no questions were taken.
The deal contained an agreement to help build a police fingerprinting lab in addition to an already announced police academy in the country, which follows earlier commitments of “capacity building” for law enforcement in the Solomon Islands.
The release said that China would continue to provide infrastructural development support to various Samoan sectors and there would be a new framework for future projects “to be determined and mutually agreed.”
“Samoa and the People’s Republic of China will continue to pursue greater collaboration that will deliver on joint interests and commitments,” the release said.
The Chinese delegation has already visited the Solomon Islands and Kiribati this week.
It arrived in Samoa on Friday night before flying yesterday afternoon to Fiji, where Wang is to visit Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama and attend a group meeting of foreign ministers from Pacific countries.
Other stops are expected in Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and East Timor.
In a duel for influence, new Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Penny Wong was in Fiji on Friday, seeking to woo island states after the Solomon Islands took Canberra by surprise last month by signing a security pact with China.
“We have expressed our concerns publicly about the security agreement,” Wong told reporters in the capital, Suva.
“As do other Pacific islands, we think there are consequences. We think that it’s important that the security of the region be determined by the region, and historically, that has been the case and we think that is a good thing,” she said.
Bainimarama yesterday said he had a “wonderful meeting” with Wong.
“Fiji is not anyone’s backyard — we are a part of a Pacific family,” Bainimarama wrote on Twitter.
He appeared to be taking a veiled swipe at former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison who was ousted in an election last weekend and once referred to the Pacific as Australia’s “backyard.”
“Our greatest concern isn’t geopolitics — it’s climate change,” Bainimarama wrote. “In that spirit, I had a wonderful meeting with Foreign Minister @SenatorWong to strengthen our Vuvale Partnership with Australia,” he said, using the Fijian word for “friendship.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
‘DANGEROUS GAME’: Legislative Yuan budget cuts have already become a point of discussion for Democrats and Republicans in Washington, Elbridge Colby said Taiwan’s fall to China “would be a disaster for American interests” and Taipei must raise defense spending to deter Beijing, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, said on Tuesday during his US Senate confirmation hearing. The nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy told the Armed Services Committee that Washington needs to motivate Taiwan to avoid a conflict with China and that he is “profoundly disturbed” about its perceived reluctance to raise defense spending closer to 10 percent of GDP. Colby, a China hawk who also served in the Pentagon in Trump’s first team,
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
RSS