China is a rising power on an expansionist course. It pits former colonies against the West and promises it will be a more benevolent friend. Yet in the global south, China has acted more like a vulture capitalist. It is making deals with vulnerable states weakened by political corruption, government profligacy and consequent debt. It approaches sinking states with friendly overtures and flattery that feed the unctuous egoism of petty tyrants. It contrasts China with the West and promises equality, debt refinancing and infrastructure loans with no political strings attached.
For corrupt regimes, the idea of a cash splash without Western conditions such as improved governance, democratic elections and human rights observance is appealing. Deloitte Insights reports China is the single largest financier of African infrastructure. It has partnered in more than 200 infrastructure projects across the continent, mostly in ports, shipping and transport (52.8 per cent) followed by energy and power (17.6 per cent).
China undercuts competition from other states and the IMF by offering low interest rates and allowing countries with poor credit ratings to use their natural resources as collateral on infrastructure loans. The model has been broadly criticised for creating a new type of colonialism via debt-trap diplomacy. Defaulting can result in countries being forced to cede sovereign land and critical strategic assets.
Last year, Sri Lanka handed over control of Hambantota port on a 99-year lease in return for China cancelling $US1 billion in debt.
The IMF has warned about the growing problem of public debt. But Pacific islands are signing up to the BRI. Tonga resettled its debt to China as part of the process. China approaches aid and development from a less naive perspective than the West. Communists are realistic about international relations. They understand the competitive nature of the nation-state system and manipulate the rules-based order for their own ends.
At the Pacific Islands Forum last week, the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Enele Sopoaga, criticised Australia for giving the Pacific island region $500 million in aid.
Once again, the ABC failed to defend the truth or the national interest when it allowed Sopoaga to claim that Australia’s aid spending was really an immoral plot for coalmining and censorship. He declared from a distinctly lunar perspective: “It is the right of the people of Tuvalu and small islands to survive. Whether it’s $500m or $1 billion or whatever, it doesn’t make any difference.”
If Australian aid doesn’t make any difference to Tuvalu, it will not miss it. But $1bn will make a difference to struggling Australian taxpayers and the 100,000 citizens who sleep rough on our streets. It will make a difference to our friends in the Pacific who want a constructive, long-term relationship with our country and don’t want China to militarise the region. It will make a difference to the Pacific island nations which share our faith in democracy and freedom. It will help our region defend the free world and Christian majority countries against communist tyranny.
The first sign you are losing the game of diplomacy is when your opponent succeeds in setting the terms of debate. Samoan PM Tuilaepa Malielegaoi rejected Australian and US concerns about growing Chinese interference in the region by saying “their enemies are not our enemies”. He said countries objecting to China’s growing influence in the region should match its “assistance”.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern took the opportunity to twist the knife in Australia’s back. In the fashion of socialists everywhere, Ardern is fond of lecturing people from a morally compromised position. As The Australian’s environment editor, Graham Lloyd, noted, NZ did not sign up to binding climate mitigation targets under the Kyoto 2 process. It will spend $300m less than Australia by 2025 to help Pacific islands manage climate change. Yet Ardern joined the China love-in by piling on Australia: “We will continue to say that New Zealand will do its bit … New Zealand has joined that international call … Australia has to answer to the Pacific. That is a matter for them.” If there is an antidote for hypocrisy, someone throw a bottle across the ditch.
Historically, Ardern was a strong advocate of socialist internationalism. She was elected president of the Socialist International youth wing in 2008. Earlier this year, she visited China and enthused about the BRI.
In June, Xinhua reported the NZ government wanted to be a “conduit” between China and South America via the BRI. NZ Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker offered support for the “Southern Link”. Stephen Jacobi, executive director of the NZ China Council, said the government had an agreement with China to participate in the BRI.
In Australia too, socialists are paving the way for China to assume greater power in our region. The Labor government in Victoria led by Daniel Andrews pledged to the BRI last October. Victorians returned Labor to office the following month.
Australia is the No 1 contributor of climate change aid for Pacific island nations. China is the No 1 emitter of carbon dioxide in the world.
It emits more than the US and EU combined. If climate change is your nightmare, China is the bogeyman. Wake up before the dream becomes reality.
The ‘outlandish’ property schemes hurting homebuyers
Government-backed home loan incentive programs have escalated to the point whereby analysts are now openly voicing their concerns about the potential impact on property prices.
Lattouf went rogue, but real blame lies with ABC management
The ABC is not the platform for political activism. Full stop. End of story. But what does this whole sorry Lattouf saga say about the public broadcaster’s management?
Pacific island leaders are playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse between the US and China. Some are using the threat of a fortified China-Pacific alliance to blackmail Australia into more foreign aid. Many politicians and left-wing media are playing into the extortion game by accepting the terms set by China and its puppet island states. But the primary geopolitical threat posed by China’s Belt and Road Initiative is to the Pacific islands themselves. Buyer beware.