As part of its efforts to “build a closer” community with “a shared future” in the strategic region, China is holding a high-level meeting with 11 Pacific Islanders.
On Wednesday, Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, will preside over the Xiamen meeting.
Top diplomats from Niue, Tonga, Nauru, Micronesia, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Fiji, and Samoa are also present, along with Kiribati’s president, Taneti Maamau.
The two-day meeting is China’s first such in person gathering, but the third time.
According to Al Jazeera’s correspondent from Beijing, Katrina Yu expects to talk about climate change, sustainable development, infrastructure development, and trade.
At a time when the United States is showing little interest in this area, and we are increasingly aware that many of those nations are more in tune with China on issues like investment, infrastructure, trade, and even security assistance, she said, “for China, this is an opportunity to expand its influence and expand economic ties.”
Global uncertainty
The meeting comes as tariffs and foreign aid cuts are being discussed by US President Donald Trump. According to analysts, this leaves China with the door wide open for entry.
The US is a very difficult partner due to its lack of certainty, according to Tess Newton of the Griffith Asia Institute. While other partners, including China, can offer, “Well, we’re here today, we’re here today, and we’re anticipating being here tomorrow,” the statement reads.
The meeting’s stated goal was to “jointly build an even closer China-Pacific Island countries community with a shared future,” according to the Chinese foreign ministry’s announcement last week.
According to analysts, this would mean more economic aid, diplomatic engagement, and a regional security pact for Beijing.
In 2022, China signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands following a string of riots there.
Beijing wants to bind other island nations in a similar pact and has also sent advisers to Vanuatu and Kiribati.
According to Mihai Sora, director of the Pacific Islands Program at the Lowy Institute in Australia, “What China is trying to do is to insert itself as a security player and, in some cases, through the lens of contributing to the individual security needs of Pacific countries like policing.”
China has an opportunity to push its goals “in its own space, on its own turf, and on its own terms,” he continued.
Taiwan
This meeting is scheduled to cover Taiwan, the self-governing island off the coast of Xiamen that China claims to own.
China has gradually reduced the number of Pacific nations that still cooperate with Taiwan, and Nauru also switched its recognition to Beijing in January of this year.
Marshall Islands, Palau, and Tuvalu are the only remaining allies Taiwan has left in the area.
According to Yu of Al Jazeera, China holds a strategic, military, and diplomatic significance for the region.
These nations are very small, have small economies, and only one of their populations exceed one million, according to the region. Papua New Guinea, she claimed.
