Australia to Bolster Defense Ties With Pacific Nations as China Eyes Another Shot at Regional Pact

China’s growing influence in the Pacific Island region has been viewed with suspicion by Australia and New Zealand. Beijing says that its involvement in the region should be viewed as an "opportunity". Foreign Minister Wang Yi has even offered "trilateral" and "quadrilateral" projects with Australia and New Zealand in the Pacific region.

Canberra will establish a regional defense academy in the Pacific region to train security personnel in the Pacific Island Nations (PINs), Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy said on Tuesday.

Addressing the ‘Pacific Update’ conference at Fiji’s University of the Southern Pacific, Conroy said that the new defense school will build upon the existing defense partnership between Canberra and the southern Pacific nations.

“We know we need to better coordinate Australia’s defense engagement with Pacific countries,” Conroy said during his virtual address to the audience in Fijian capital Suva.

“We want to ensure our defense engagement delivers practical support, responds to the priorities of Pacific countries, and builds deeper institutional links between the region’s security forces,” the Australian Minister further remarked.

He also announced that Canberra would “double down” on its funding for the aerial surveillance program in the Pacific region in order to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of the island nations.

“This enhanced surveillance will help Pacific governments to recoup some of the US$150 million a year in revenues estimated to be lost due to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing,” Conroy reckoned.

Further, the Australian minister said in his speech that Canberra would help the small island nations establish a new ‘Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership’ to help develop climate resilient infrastructure in the region.

Conroy described climate change as the “most pressing issue” facing the Pacific, as he underlined that “almost half of the people of the Pacific were affected by major disasters between 2011 and 2020”.

He also slammed the previous Australian government headed by ex-Prime Minister Scott Morrison for not taking climate change seriously enough during Canberra’s previous dealings with the Pacific states. “Unfortunately, the former Australian Government disrespected the Pacific family by not taking adequate action on climate change,” he stated.

The Pacific Island nations have collectively described climate change as the “single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and well-being of the peoples” in the region.

The remarks by the Australian Minister come ahead of the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) meeting in Suva this month. Besides the small island Pacific nations, the PIF also includes Australia and New Zealand among its 18 members.

China Said to Be Planning Another Conference to Seal Pacific Regional Pact

Meanwhile, China is planning to host another regional meeting with 10 Pacific countries in order to sign a regional pact on July 14, Reuters reported citing “people with direct knowledge” of the matter.

The virtual conference will be held on July 14, the final day of the PIF meeting in Suva.

The proposed “region-wide deal” between China and the Pacific nations couldn’t be cleared at the second China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Suva on 30 May owing to concerns expressed by some island states.

Between May 26 and June 4, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also paid a visit to eight southern Pacific countries—the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea, as well as Timor-Leste.

Some of the Pacific states cautioned that the pact could lead to a ‘Cold War’ between Beijing and the US, the pre-eminent power in the Pacific since the Cold War.

As per reports, the proposed pact has clauses on policing, security and data communication. Beijing’s envoy to Fiji said at the time that “further discussions” would be held on the agreement.

The proposed pact also raised hackles in the US, Australia and New Zealand, with all three nations already alarmed by the formal unveiling of the security cooperation agreement between China and the Solomon Islands in April.

The US State Department warned at a briefing last month that the proposed pact could “fuel international tensions”.

Meanwhile, a joint statement released after the meeting between New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and US President Joe Biden at the White House on 1 June expressed concern over the “growing strategic competition in the Pacific region”.