Labor flags more aid and diplomats to combat China’s Pacific rise

Labor has flagged it will increase Australia’s diplomatic heft in the Pacific and boost foreign aid in a bid to combat China’s growing influence while Prime Minister Scott Morrison warns the superpower is seeking to exploit vulnerabilities in the region but he would draw a line at a Chinese military base.

The opposition accused the government of a substantial national security failure after Solomon Islands signed a new security deal with China that experts warn could lead to Chinese ships and planes being based some 2000km from Australia’s east coast.

Peter Dutton and Penny Wong.Credit: Nine

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare reiterated in a statement from his office on Saturday the security agreement was not about China establishing a military base in his country.

Morrison said he had received similar reassurances previously, and the establishment of a base in Solomons would be a “red line” for Australia and the United States.

“This is a shared concern, not just Australia,” Morrison said.

“Working together with our partners in New Zealand and of course the United States, I share the same red line that the United States has when it comes to these issues.

When pushed on what that meant, he said: “We won’t be having Chinese military naval bases in our region, on our doorstep”.

“Prime Minister Sogavare has been very clear to me saying there will be no such bases. So that is what he has said. And so he clearly shares our red line.”

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said it was vital to approach relationships with Pacific nations by continually demonstrating that you were engaging in the issues they cared about, such as climate change.

“You don’t just respond to [increased competition by China] by telling people not to go elsewhere. You respond to it by becoming and being and staying the partner of choice,” she told Sky News.

Labor will announce within days its policy to rebuild trust and diplomatic relations with Pacific nations.

Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers flagged that would include increased foreign aid and a stronger diplomatic capacity, saying the country had to re-earn the trust and friendship of Pacific neighbours.

“Part of that relies on being credible partners on climate change and part of that relies on being meaningful partners when it comes to development assistance,” he said.

The Coalition cut aid spending in real terms for six budgets in a row after it took office in 2013. Aid spending jumped during the pandemic, but the March 29 budget showed it would flatline over the next few years, although there was a separate pool of money allocated to infrastructure projects in the Pacific.

Morrison said on Sunday there were always “ebbs and flows” in development support programs but the projects his government had funded in Solomon Islands were “economy-supporting investments”.

“All I can tell you is the Chinese government does not play by the same rules. And there are lots of vulnerabilities within our region to that type of influence,” he said.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton said China has changed over recent years, resorting to aggressive tactics and underhanded behaviour such as making “corrupt payments” to get the deals it wants.

He said if China’s recently struck security deal with Solomon Islands has happened in isolation, “that would be bad enough” but it followed a pattern seen in Sri Lanka and African nations.

Asked if corrupt payments had been made in the Solomons case, Dutton said “it’s not something that I can comment on”.

“China’s incredibly aggressive, the acts of foreign interference, the preparedness to pay bribes to get outcomes and to beat other countries to deals. That’s the reality of the modern China,” he told Sky News.

But Chalmers said the government had dropped the ball.

“For all the government’s chest-beating about China, the net result of that is a region which is less secure and a nation which is less safe,” he told ABC’s Insiders.

“This is a prime minister that went to the wrong island, went to Hawaii during the bushfires when his focus should have been on the Solomon Islands.”

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said he had no doubt Sogavare believed the security agreement was not about China establishing a military base but equally, he was certain Beijing’s eventual goal was to set up a military base close to Australia.

“The Chinese government works to a long-term plan, and this is just another form of island-hopping, which is part of the strategic process used by the United States and Japan and now China to get a presence,” he told Insiders.

“Obviously for the Solomons, I take their word, but I say, be really careful inviting a totalitarian power into your country because it is going to affect your sovereignty.”

Cut through the noise of the federal election campaign with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Sign up to our Australia Votes 2022 newsletter here.