The draft proposal sent by China to potential partners in the South Pacific calls for greater cooperation in security, policing and cybersecurity, and economic development, among other areas.
The draft proposal, provided to CNN by a person with direct knowledge of the matter and first reported by Reuters, is expected to be discussed at the second meeting of foreign ministers of China’s island countries. and the Pacific in Fiji next week, part of a 10-day regional diplomatic visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Wang’s tour began Thursday in the Solomon Islands and will take the minister to Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and East Timor, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.
It is unclear whether the proposed pact would gain widespread support among the Pacific Island nations in relations with Beijing. But if accepted, it would mark a significant breakthrough in Beijing’s connection to the region, which is of geostrategic importance in the Indo-Pacific.
The location of the Pacific islands, largely in northeastern Australia, means that military strategists have long seen island nations as a vital link between Guam and the United States. ‘Australia is an ally of the United States.
Both the United States and Australia are wary of a China that has become increasingly assertive in the South China Sea that extends its reach further into Pacific waters and potentially isolates this vital network from the island chain. .
Meanwhile, the island nations themselves, usually more concerned with the ravages of climate change than with geopolitics, have been wary of being seen as pawns in a major power struggle.
At least one country to which the agreement was addressed has raised concerns and there has been a wider reaction from other regional powers distrusting 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 that the draft proposal was intended to move the Pacific nations with diplomatic ties with China “very close to the orbit of Beijing “.
Panuelo argued that in addition to affecting the sovereignty of the Pacific nations, the signing of this agreement could provoke a new “Cold War” amid tensions between China and the West.
News of Wang’s draft proposal and tour may have caused further concern from other powers as it comes after the Solomon Islands and China signed a bilateral security agreement last month, prompting fears of providing an opening for a Chinese army. base on the island.
Speaking to Honiara on Thursday, Wang defended the security agreement between the Solomon Islands and China as “open and transparent” and said there were no intentions to establish military bases.
“China supports Pacific island countries to strengthen security cooperation and work together to address regional security challenges … Pacific island countries are sovereign and independent states and are not the ‘backyard’ of no one, “he said.
Last month, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said Honiara’s agreement with Beijing would “complement” an existing security agreement with Australia and “not affect or undermine the peace and harmony of our country.” region “. The Solomon Islands are about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) off the northeast coast of Australia.
But concerns about China’s regional intentions were apparently very worrying for Australia this week, with new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese criticizing his predecessor’s failure to avoid China’s deal with the Solomon Islands. Thursday that his country “can’t afford.” to “drop the ball” in his response.
“This is China looking to increase its influence in that region of the world where Australia has been the preferred security partner since World War II,” he said, adding that Canberra should offer more support.
As a sign of the Albanian government’s concern, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong traveled to Fiji on Thursday, where – in a speech she did not name China directly – she presented Australia as “a partner. that does not come with ropes, nor impose unsustainable financial burdens “.
“We are a partner that will not erode the priorities of the Pacific or the institutions of the Pacific. We believe in transparency. We believe in real partnerships,” Wong said.
The United States, for its part, announced on Thursday that Fiji will join its recently unveiled flagship economic plan for the region, known as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity.
Beijing has not confirmed that it is seeking a multilateral agreement in the region.
Wang’s visit was aimed at “further strengthening high-level exchange, consolidating mutual political trust, expanding practical cooperation and deepening people-to-people ties in order to build an even closer community with a shared future for China and the Pacific Islands. ” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.
The spokesman also declined when asked about fears that a Pacific Islands security deal could trigger a Cold War, calling it “sensational remarks.”
In Washington on Wednesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said the United States was “aware that China is seeking to negotiate a series of agreements during the foreign minister’s visit to the region.”
“We are concerned that these denounced agreements can be negotiated in a hasty and non-transparent process,” he said, noting what he described as a Beijing pattern that offers “shady and vague agreements”, while the US respects the capacity of countries. . to make their own sovereign decisions.
The proposed draft security agreement and Wang’s tour come amid growing concern from other regional powers over Beijing’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.
China claims almost all of the vast South China Sea as its sovereign territory. He has been building and militarizing his facilities there, turning the islands into military bases and runways, and supposedly creating a maritime militia that could have hundreds of boats.
And in the East China Sea, China is claiming sovereignty over the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, also known as the Diaoyu Islands. In recent years, the United States has reiterated its promise to defend the islands in the event of foreign aggression.
In a joint statement on Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida “expressed concern” over China’s security deal with the Solomon Islands and its failure to “address voices regional concerns “.