WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – China wants 10 small Pacific nations to approve a comprehensive agreement covering everything from security to fisheries, with what one leader warns is a “game-changing” attempt by Beijing to wrest control of the region.
A draft agreement received by the Associated Press shows that China wants to train Pacific police officers, join forces on “traditional and non-traditional security” and expand law enforcement cooperation.
China also wants to jointly develop a marine fisheries plan – which will include lucrative tuna catches in the Pacific – to increase co-operation in managing Internet networks in the region and to set up Confucius cultural institutes and classrooms. China also mentioned the possibility of establishing a free trade area with the Pacific.
China’s move comes as Foreign Minister Wang Yi and a 20-member delegation begin a visit to the region this week.
Wang is visiting seven of the countries he hopes will endorse the “Common Vision for Development” – Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.
Wang is also holding virtual meetings with the other three potential signatories – the Cook Islands, Niue and the Federated States of Micronesia. He hopes the parties will approve the pre-written agreement as part of a joint communiqué following a planned meeting on May 30th in Fiji with the foreign ministers of each of the 10 countries.
But Micronesian President David Panuello wrote an eight-page letter to leaders of other Pacific nations, saying his nation would not approve of the plan and warned of dire consequences if others did.
Panuello said in a letter to the AP that behind attractive words in the agreement, such as “justice” and “justice”, there are many disturbing details.
Among other concerns, he said, is that the agreement opens the door for China to own and control the region’s fisheries and communications infrastructure. He said China could intercept emails and listen to phone calls.
Panuello said in his letter that the agreement was “an intention to displace those of us with diplomatic relations with China very close to Beijing’s orbit, inextricably linking all our economies and societies with them.”
He warns that the agreement will unnecessarily increase geopolitical tensions and threaten regional stability.
In his letter, Panuello said that the Common Vision for Development is “the only game-changing proposed agreement in the Pacific in each of our lives” and “threatens to lead to a new era of the Cold War in the best and world war in the best the worst ”
Panuello declined to comment on the letter or the proposed agreement.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday that he did not know about Panuello’s letter.
“But I do not agree at all with the argument that cooperation between China and the island nations in the South Pacific will provoke a new Cold War,” he said.
He said China “has a long history of friendly relations with the South Pacific island nations” and has long provided them with economic and technical assistance without any political restrictions.
Like some other countries in the Pacific, Micronesia is increasingly caught between competing interests of Washington and Beijing.
Micronesia has close ties with the United States through the Free Association Agreement. But there is also what Panuelo describes in his letter as a “great friendship” with China, which he hopes to continue despite his opposition to the agreement.
The security aspects of the agreement will be of particular concern to many in the region and beyond, especially since China signed a separate security pact with the Solomon Islands last month.
The pact has raised fears that China could send troops to the island nation or even set up a military base there, not far from Australia. Solomon Islands and China say there are no plans for a base.
The May 30 meeting will be the second between Wang and the Pacific foreign ministers since they held a virtual meeting last October.
Those who follow China’s role in the Pacific will look closely at the text of the draft agreement.
Among its provisions: “China will conduct mid-level and high-level police training for Pacific countries.
The agreement says the parties will “strengthen traditional and non-traditional security co-operation” and “expand co-operation between law enforcement agencies, fight transnational crime together and establish a dialogue mechanism on law enforcement capacity and police co-operation”. .
The agreement will also see nations “expand exchanges between governments, legislatures and political parties”.
The draft agreement also stipulates that Pacific countries “firmly adhere to the one-China principle” that Taiwan, a self-governing island democracy, is considered by Beijing to be part of China. He will also uphold the principle of “non-interference”, which China often cites as a deterrent to other nations that speak out for their human rights.
The agreement says China and the Pacific will jointly formulate a maritime spatial plan “to optimize the layout of the maritime economy and to develop and use marine resources rationally so as to promote the sustainable development of the blue economy”.
China also promises more investment in the region by mobilizing private capital and encouraging “more competitive and reputable Chinese companies to engage in direct investment in Pacific island countries.”
China has also promised to send Chinese language consultants, teachers and volunteers to the islands.
The AP has also acquired a draft five-year action plan that aims to co-exist with the Common Development Vision, which outlines a number of immediate incentives that China offers to Pacific countries.
In the action plan, China says it will fully implement 2,500 state scholarships by 2025.
“In 2022, China will conduct the first training program for young diplomats from Pacific island countries, depending on the pandemic situation,” the draft plan said, adding that China would also hold management and planning seminars for Pacific countries.
In the draft action plan, China says it will build laboratories for criminal investigations according to the needs of the Pacific countries, which can be used for fingerprint testing, forensic autopsies and e-forensics.
China also says it will spend another $ 2 million and send 200 medics to the islands to help fight COVID-19 and promote health, and promises to help countries in their efforts to combat climate change. .
Add Comment