Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama,who hosted Wang for the Pacific foreign ministers meeting in Suva,said the region had to work together to face existential threats before signing up for any major multilateral deals.
“We put consensus first,” said Bainimarama. “Geopolitical point scoring means less than little to anyone whose community is slipping beneath the rising seas,whose job has been lost to a pandemic.”
The leak of China’s proposal to Reuters and a warning by David Panuelo,the President of the Federated States of Micronesia that it would shift the region “into Beijing’s orbit” put hopes of a deal being signed on Monday in peril. The region,which has found itself in the middle of a geopolitical contest between the United States,Australia and China,puts a high value on unity in its negotiations through the Pacific Islands Forum. Instead,Wang said that China would now pursue a policy position paper in the region as it looks to build multinational support for its vision of “common development,sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
“Some have been questioning ‘why China has been so active in supporting Pacific countries’?” said Wang,who did not take any questions from reporters at the press conference.
“China is a major developing country,and we do this with a great sense of responsibility.”
Wang presented a message from President Xi Jinping stating China was willing to work with Pacific Island nations to build a “community with a shared future” – highlighting Beijing’s growing diplomatic investment in the region after signing a landmark security and trade deal with Solomon Islands in April.