The Chinese Communist Party uses the past to divide the future and sow discord. To that ignoble end, the language of colonialism has served it well. In the Pacific Islands, Beijing uses deception to convince Islanders that doing deals with the most powerful atheist organisation in the world – the CCP – will benefit them primarily. In purely financial terms, it could be right in the short term. There are few countries that can match China’s enthusiasm for buying friends. But Labor has moved to blunt the belief that paying Pacific Islanders for a marriage of convenience is healthy for either party. Instead, it is proposing deeper engagement in the region by shifting from a transactional mindset to one of mutual understanding.
Not since World War II has there been such high-level interest in Solomon Islands. The Battle of Guadalcanal is remembered as especially bloody for American troops and decisive in forcing the retreat of Japanese forces. The country has been thrust into the spotlight by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s pro-CCP stance that culminated in popular riots against Chinese corruption last year. The riots were later used to defend further CCP interference in the state after details of a new security pact between the Solomons and China were revealed by New Zealand academic Anna Powles.
The security pact stoked fears that China was using trade ties formed through its Belt and Road Initiative to militarise Pacific Islands by stealth. The CCP has been accused of debt diplomacy; a method of foreign aid in which a wealthy state offers concessional loans to a poorer state with a view to acquiring key infrastructure or resources when the debt cannot be repaid. The details of China’s deals with developing nations are often protected from public scrutiny. However, the development of new security alliances poses a significant threat to the free world order given the CCP has shown a willingness to disregard international rules and norms to advance its nationalist interests.
It had been believed China’s hyper-nationalism would be held in check by the rules-based international order. What transpired was fresh willingness on the part of the CCP to trample human rights in pursuit of one-party rule and territorial expansion.
The new Labor government began its term in the high-risk domain of great power rivalry between China and the US. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong attended the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue summit in Tokyo before Wong presented a keynote address to the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat in Fiji.
Wong aims for a new openness with Pacific Island leaders who expressed dismay at the former government’s approach to climate change and foreign aid. Labor is following in the footsteps of US President Joe Biden, who has made climate change mitigation a centrepiece of foreign policy. The change in emphasis and rhetoric was bolstered by Labor offering an additional $500m in aid to the region.
On Friday, there was good news that Fiji chose to be the founding Pacific Islands partner in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which includes the US, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
While the fresh approach to Pacific Islands relations is welcome, China has no intention of restraining its ambitions in the region. Reuters leaked details that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will seek a new regional partnership for greater CCP influence through joint security, policing and cyber capabilities. However, we should not underestimate the wisdom of Pacific Islanders and their ability to see the long-term consequences of doing a deal with the red dragon. One of the nations invited to the CCP regional meeting said Wang’s five-year action plan proposal “threatens regional stability”.
Solomons was the first stop in Wang’s trip to discuss closer trade ties and bilateral or multilateral security arrangements. It is no mistake he chose to visit there first. Sogavare has become an important asset for the CCP in the region. He cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan before joining China’s Belt and Road Initiative. After Kiribati joined the BRI, concerns grew the CCP was planning to restore military infrastructure such as a disused airstrip on the archipelago’s Kanton Island. It has not yet eventuated, but the prospect of a beefed-up security apparatus across the region would give China geo-strategic advantages that free world nations, including Pacific Island democracies, can ill-afford.
Beijing denies it is using the BRI to colonise vulnerable states. Instead, it continues to accuse free world countries of interventionist foreign policy. But the CCP’s use of soft power and foreign investment to curry favour with corrupt regimes and meddle in the domestic politics of countries such as Solomons demonstrate it behaves as a neo-colonialist power. Consistent with the theory of neo-colonialism, CCP deals are shrouded in secrecy and trade on corruption while preserving the appearance of autonomy.
The coming week will be crucial for the future of the Pacific Islands and the role they will play in the great power rivalry between China and the US. The temptation to acquiesce as Beijing muscles in on the region is significant. But, while Pacific Island countries are small, their role in the future of the free world is great. The choice of right over might is never wrong.
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