Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi this week began a 10-day tour of small Pacific countries with the draft of an agreement to strengthen economic and security ties with eight nations and lay the groundwork for a possible free zone with the region, which gained priority in Chinese diplomacy.
The British newspaper The Guardian had access to the document and a five-year strategic plan, materials that Yi is expected to present to his counterparts, and detailed the content in a report published this Thursday (26). The minister will visit the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and East Timor.
The main focus of the agreement is in the area of ​​security. The document proposes to expand China-Pacific cooperation in the police arena and in the fight against transnational crime. And it suggests that Beijing conduct agent training in those nations, as well as help improve laboratories for tests such as forensic autopsy.
Cooperation in the area of ​​cybersecurity, in the formulation of laws on data governance, in infrastructure, energy, fisheries and mining is also mentioned. The agreement also proposes exploring the creation of a free trade area with the Pacific nations.
There is also a commitment by Beijing to provide an additional US$ 2 million (R$ 9.5 million) to these countries to help fight Covid and the consequences of the health crisis, in addition to sending 200 Chinese doctors to Pacific countries. in the next five years. About 2,500 scholarships would also be offered by the Chinese regime.
In parts, the Chinese ambition that will be presented in the chancellor’s trip is similar to what Beijing has already done with the Solomon Islands, a country in the South Pacific region, close to Australia and New Zealand. The two governments signed an agreement in mid-April that effectively outsources security on the archipelago and puts Chinese security forces at the disposal of the Solomonic government.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbi, during an interview on Thursday, signaled that the partnership with the Solomon Islands is just the first step that Beijing is eager to take. “We want to make this bilateral relationship a beautiful example of mutual political trust and a framework for beneficial cooperation between China and the nations of the South Pacific.”
He also stated that the expansion of the partnership with the island countries of the region constitutes a “long-term strategic guideline for Chinese diplomacy”. Wenbi also criticized NATO, the Western military alliance – now at the center of the Ukraine-Russia conflict -, saying the US-led group has repeatedly entered the Asia-Pacific region.
“NATO has transgressed regions and called for a new Cold War; this is reason enough for there to be high vigilance and strong opposition from the international community,” continued the Foreign Ministry spokesman.
The Chinese objective in the region, however, is far from a consensus. David Panuelo, president of the Federated States of Micronesia, a group of more than 600 islands independent since 1979 and located east of the Philippine archipelago and north of Papua New Guinea, said his country would ask for the agreement to be rejected.
Panuelo said that this is the only option consistent with the desire to prevent a new Cold War from being unleashed between China and the West. “In the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which would be tantamount to a war between China and the US, the region risks being caught in the crossfire of the powers,” argued the president.
The Chinese chancellor is not the only one trying to increase influence in the region. Australia’s new foreign minister, Penny Wong, said in a message to the Pacific Islands Forum that the new Labor government – elected last weekend – will increase funding to combat climate change in the region and offer jobs. work for immigrants from neighboring nations.
“The triple challenge of climate, Covid and economic competition demands new strategies, and we understand that the safety of any member of the Pacific family depends on the safety of everyone,” Wong told the 50-year-old regional forum.
