Australia urges Pacific nations to shun China security deals

SUVA, Fiji: Australia urged South Pacific nations to spurn China’s attempts to extend its security reach across the region on Friday, seeking to fend off a high-level charm offensive by Beijing.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong was in Fiji on her first solo visit, seeking to woo island states after the Solomon Islands took Canberra by surprise last month by signing a wide-ranging security pact with China.

“We have expressed our concerns publicly about the security agreement,” Wong told reporters in the capital of Suva. “As do other Pacific islands, we think there are consequences. We think that it’s important that the security of the region be determined by the region. And historically that has been the case. And we think that is a good thing.”

In a duel for influence, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi was flying across the Pacific at the same time to discuss Beijing’s plan to dramatically expand its security and economic engagement.

At the first stop in the Solomon Islands on Thursday, Wang lashed out at “smears and attacks” against the security pact with the island state, speaking at a news conference in Honiara to which some journalists were excluded. Wang took a short flight to Kiribati on Friday, the next destination in an extensive tour lasting until June 4 that will also take in Samoa, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.