Opening of the Foreign Ministers Meeting of 10 Pacific Island Countries and China

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (3rd right) meets with Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa (3rd left) – Photo: AFP

China is also willing to work with Pacific island nations to build a community with a shared future.

According to AFP news agency, on May 30, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi chaired a meeting with his counterparts from 10 Pacific island nations in Fiji.

Due to the COVID epidemic, most foreign ministers attended the meeting in Fiji online. This is also considered a summit because in some Pacific countries, the foreign minister is also the prime minister.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in the Fijian capital Suva. According to AFP news agency, the conference is expected to discuss China’s proposals to expand its participation in the fields of security, economy and politics in the South Pacific.

The draft joint communiqué and 5-year action plan sent by China to countries including Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Niue and Vanuatu before the meeting, shows that China is looking seek an extensive trade relationship and regional security agreement.

Accordingly, China is expected to participate in local police training, cybersecurity training, expand political relations, map the sea as well as gain more access to natural resources on the land. inland and at sea in the region.

Beijing also offered millions of dollars in financial support, opening the prospect of a China-Pacific free trade agreement and access to China’s vast market of 1.4 billion people.

In recent days, according to Chinese government statements, several Pacific island nations have signed off on some of the individual security components that China seeks in the regional agreement. However, experts said that the regional security agreement is unlikely to get a high consensus from the leaders of the Pacific island nations at the conference.

Richard Herr, a scholar working at the University of Tasmania, Australia, who has decades of experience studying the Pacific Islands, said that “countries in the region will be hesitant about being dragged into the competition. Geo-strategic”.

Samoa has signed an agreement to build a fingerprinting lab for the police and a Chinese-funded police training academy.

Meanwhile, Federative Micronesian President David Panuelo warned Pacific leaders about Beijing’s latest proposals.

In general, Pacific countries want to maintain friendly relations with China, balancing relations between Beijing and Washington.