The draft proposal sent by China to potential partners in the South Pacific calls for greater cooperation in security, policing and cybersecurity, and in economic development, among other areas.
Wang’s tour began Thursday in the Solomon Islands and will bring the minister to Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and East Timor, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.
Already at least one country to which the agreement was directed has raised concerns, and there has been broader backlash from other regional powers who are wary of China’s intentions.
In a letter to 22 other Pacific leaders seen by CNN, the President of the Federated States of Micronesia, David Panuelo, said the draft proposal was intended to shift Pacific nations with diplomatic ties to China “very close into Beijing’s orbit.”
Panuelo argued that in addition to impacting the sovereignty of Pacific nations, signing such an agreement could bring about a new “Cold War” amid tensions between China and the West.
The draft proposal also sparked outcry in Australia, with new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese — who had been critical of his predecessor’s failure to avert China’s deal with the Solomon Islands — saying Thursday his country “cannot afford” to “drop the ball” in its response.
Last month, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare made assurances Honiara’s deal with Beijing would “complement” an existing security agreement with Australia and would “not adversely impact or undermine the peace and harmony of our region.” The Solomons is around 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) from Australia’s northeastern coast.
Nevertheless, in a mark of the Albanese government’s concern about Chinese expansion in the region, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong traveled to Fiji on Thursday, where — in a speech that didn’t name China directly — she pitched Australia as “a partner that doesn’t come with strings attached, nor imposing unsustainable financial burdens.”
“We are a partner that won’t erode Pacific priorities or Pacific institutions. We believe in transparency. We believe in true partnerships,” Wong said.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Wednesday she was “very strongly of the view that we have within the Pacific the means and ability to respond to any security challenges that exist.”
Beijing has not confirmed it is seeking a multilateral agreement in the region.
Wang’s visit was meant to “further strengthen high-level exchange, consolidate political mutual trust, expand practical cooperation, and deepen people-to-people bond so as to build an even closer community with a shared future for China and Pacific Island countries,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday.
The spokesman also pushed back when asked about fears that a Pacific Islands security agreement could spark a Cold War — calling this “sensational remarks.”
In Washington on Wednesday, US State Department Spokesman Ned Price said the US was “aware that China seeks to negotiate a range of arrangements during the foreign minister’s visit to the region.”
“We are concerned that these reported agreements may be negotiated in a rushed, non-transparent process,” he said, pointing to what he described as a pattern of Beijing offering “shadowy, vague deals,” while adding the US respects countries’ ability to make their own sovereign decisions.
The proposed draft security deal and Wang’s tour come amid heightened concern from other regional powers over Beijing’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.
And in the East China Sea, China claims sovereignty over the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, also known as the Diaoyu Islands. In recent years, the US has reiterated its promise to defend the islands in the event of foreign aggression.