Beijing’s largesse in the Pacific drying up, Lowy confirms

Chinese ‘mask diplomacy’ is covering up a plunge in Beijing’s generosity to Pacific countries, new analysis finds.

Chinese “mask diplomacy” is covering up a plunge in Beijing’s generosity to Pacific countries, with new analysis showing the country’s foreign aid to the region has fallen dramatically.

The Lowy Institute’s Pacific Aid Map confirms Australia’s status as the biggest single aid donor to the region, providing $12.31bn to Pacific countries over the past decade, compared to China’s $2.4bn.

Despite Beijing’s heavy promotion of its donations of personal protective equipment to help Pacific countries fight COVID-19, the aid map reveals Chinese aid to the region is going backwards.

Beijing cut its foreign aid from a high of $338m in 2018 to $169m last year, while incomplete data for 2020 records just $5.62m in new commitments this year.

“Our data shows that after a rapid rise between 2010 and 2017, aid from China plateaued in 2018, coinciding with Xi Jinping’s visit to Port Moresby for the APEC leaders summit,” Lowy Institute Pacific program director Jonathan Pryke said.

The Lowy analysis shows that in 2018 — the latest year for which full donor data is available — Australia provided $1.29bn in aid to the Pacific, or about 31 per cent of total aid to the region compared to China’s 8 per cent.

Total aid to the region that year was up 25 per cent as traditional donors stepped up their contributions.

“This aligns with the growing geopolitical anxiety of the west about China’s activities in the region,” Mr Pryke said.

Papua New Guinea was the region’s biggest aid recipient, reaping $9.7bn in support since 2010, followed by the Solomon Islands, which received $3.28bn.

As donors move to support Pacific nations’ COVID-19 response, the data reveals the limited support foreign aid has provided for the Pacific’s health sector. Between 2010 and 2018, only 12 per cent of aid to the Pacific was spent in the health sector, compared to 21 per cent on governance programs.