Vanuatu security treaty leaves China out in cold

Australia has outplayed China to secure a legally binding security treaty with Vanuatu, paving the way for intelligence sharing and faster deployment of defence, humanitarian and cyber support.

Tribal dancers entertain Foreign Minister Penny Wong, centre, and her fellow delegates and local dignitaries in Port Vila.

Australia has outplayed China to secure a legally binding security treaty with Vanuatu, paving the way for intelligence sharing and faster deployment of defence, ­humanitarian and cyber support to the small Pacific nation in times of crisis.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong signed the agreement with Vanuatu’s Prime Minister, Ishmael Kalsakau, in Port Vila on Tuesday, saying Australia was “proud to be Vanuatu’s principal security partner”.

Negotiations to secure the treaty started under the Turnbull government in 2018 but were ­accelerated this year after China’s security agreement with Solomon Islands and its later attempt to sign a region-wide security pact with Pacific nations.

“It reflects our belief that ­security is regional responsibility, and it is the responsibility of the Pacific family,” Senator Wong said. “We come to it with a recognition that we are equal partners, and we come to listen.”

Mr Kalsakau said the treaty, which still needs to be ratified by both nations’ parliaments, was “the embodiment” of the countries’ 40-year relationship.

He and Senator Wong sealed the treaty by drinking a coconut shell each of kava, after which Mr Kalsakau declared: “Now our partnership is cemented.”

The Foreign Minister was also given a piglet as a token of her hosts’ respect.

Senator Wong, in return, conveyed an invitation from ­Anthony Albanese for Mr Kalsakau to come to Australia next year for an official visit.

The treaty includes a commitment to hold an annual security dialogue and entrenches a broad definition of security co-operation including police, maritime and humanitarian support, cyber and biosecurity engagement, and help dealing with the impacts of climate change.

Its signing coincided with the finalisation by Vanuatu of a new national security policy and a formal system of classifying security documents that will allow the countries to share secret information with the confidence that it won’t leak.

Mr Kalsakau said the measures were vital for the policing of Vanuatu’s borders and the protection of its exclusive economic zone. “As Prime Minister, I cannot state enough that security and the protection of this nation and its sovereignty must be my first priority and my toughest challenge,” he said.

Australia is working on a similar treaty with Papua New Guinea, and Senator Wong did not rule out further such pacts with other Pacific partners in the future.

Unlike China’s Solomons pact, the Australia-Vanuatu treaty would be a public document, ­reflecting the nations’ commitment to accountability and transparency, Senator Wong said.

The minister, who is leading a bilateral delegation on a four-day regional trip, also officially handed over a wharf and new police boat to Vanuatu with the support of her opposition counterpart Simon Birmingham, Minister for the Pacific Pat Conroy and opposition Pacific spokesman Michael McCormack.

Senator Birmingham said the wharf and treaty showed “Australia and Vanuatu are at our strongest when we stand together”.

The finalisation of the document comes despite Vanuatu’s close economic relationship with China, to which it owes 30 per cent of its national debt.

And it also comes as Vanuatu works to restore systems after a massive cyber attack with the support of Australian experts. ­Officials said such support would be delivered more rapidly under the new security framework.

Once ratified, the treaty will become only the second such ­legally binding agreement between Australia and a Pacific partner, after the 2017 treaty with Solomon Islands. That agreement was invoked by the country’s Prime Minister last year amid rioting against his government. Senator Wong’s office said the piglet was later re-gifted.