{"id":7876,"date":"2020-08-27T09:41:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T23:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/?p=7876"},"modified":"2023-05-04T14:56:53","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T04:56:53","slug":"chinas-footprint-in-the-pacific","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/chinas-footprint-in-the-pacific\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s footprint in the Pacific"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">China\u2019s gigantic footprint in the Pacific is expected to grow in future, despite the impact of COVID-19 on its economy and the dent in its global standing due to various territorial disputes and the recent crackdown in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These issues were at the center of discussions at a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/china-in-the-pacific-tickets-113652170702\">\u2018China in the Pacific\u2019<\/a> webinar&nbsp; organised by Georgetown University in conjunction with the University of Hawaii.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/china-in-the-pacific-tickets-113652170702\">panel<\/a> included Dr Tarcisius Kabutaulaka, Director of the University of Hawaii\u2019s Centre for Pacific Studies, Professor Terence Wesley-Smith from the University of Hawaii and Dr Graeme Smith, a fellow at the Australian National University (ANU)<strong>.<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While some panelists believe that China\u2019s support is beneficial for a remote region with unique development challenges, others fear that the Pacific states could become pawns in Beijing\u2019s longer-term geo-strategic ambitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">China has over the years become a major aid donor, trade partner and source of investment in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pacific exports to China have increased from US$46m in 2005 to almost US$400m in 2017, according to analysis from the Development Policy Centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response, traditional allies, such as Australia, New Zealand and the United States, have stepped up their engagement seeking to mitigate China\u2019s influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The panelists considered numerous issues within the context of how Pacific island states engage with China<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They agreed that China was here to stay and that people must \u2018learn to live with it.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr Kabutaulaka said since Pacific island countries want China to be part of the new regional order, they needed to know how to manage that relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor a lot of Pacific countries, the challenge is knowing which part of China, given the fact that China is dynamic and not homogenous, we are dealing with &#8211; whether it\u2019s Beijing or with companies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>China\u2019s <\/strong>concessional loans and grants in the region reached US$1.5 billion between 2006 and 2017, according to the Lowy Institute, making it the region\u2019s third largest donor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But there are concerns about the borrowing levels of island leaders amid rising debt in several countries, especially in light of the economic distress caused by Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">China\u2019s lending style has been deemed as posing \u201cclear risks\u201d in the long-term, according to the Lowy Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chinese construction companies undertook work valued at US$958 million in the Pacific in 2017, according to China\u2019s Ministry of Commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The panelists said that these investments could grow given that China\u2019s 10 Pacific allies had signed on to the US$1 trillion Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three major Chinese companies are active in the region: the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), the Shanghai Construction Group and the China Railway Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ANU\u2019s Dr Smith believes these companies are expected to \u201ccarry the water for the Chinese state\u201d in negotiations with Pacific leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCCECC basically fronted China in the Solomon Islands when they were trying to negotiate the switch [from Taiwan to China],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lowyinstitute.org\/the-interpreter\/wisdom-solomons-taiwan-and-china-s-pacific-power-play\">met with senior government people<\/a> and offered them US$500m worth of grants and loans. In the end, that seemed to have been persuasive because Solomon Islands switched shortly afterwards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aside from economics, China has political ambitions in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beijing views the region as a crucial source of votes at bodies like the United Nations, according to Professor Wesley-Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the implications were played out at a July UN Human Rights Council vote on China\u2019s new national security law in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Papua New Guinea was one of the 53 countries that voted in favour of the new law, described as draconian and oppressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUp until quite recently, Pacific delegations at the United Nations tended to vote pretty solidly along with western countries,\u201d Professor Wesley-Smith said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere is the possibility that we are going to see an increasing divide in that bloc.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Professor Wesley-Smith said that Pacific island countries were compelled into a balancing act to ensure their own development needs are addressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In particular, Pacific states recognise climate change as \u201cthe single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing\u201d and want it emphasised in global discussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the region\u2019s dominant donor, Australia\u2019s Pacific \u2018Step Up\u2019 has been the most pronounced effort to counter China\u2019s increased presence in the Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It includes a US$2bn infrastructure development financing facility, funding the US$144m <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coralseacablesystem.com.au\/\">Coral Sea Cable System<\/a> in the Solomon Islands and the construction of the Blackrock military base in Fiji.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New Zealand has also launched its \u2018Pacific Reset\u2019 and the United States has the \u2018Pacific Pledge.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These initiatives have been welcomed by Dr Tabukaulaka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, he believes that the western powers\u2019 exclusion of the Pacific from various mappings of the region \u2013 for example, the Indo-Pacific &#8211; will continue to push it closer towards China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere is a need for genuinely respecting the sovereignty of PICs in our engagement not only with China but with other parts of the world as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These issues and more will form the backdrop of regional geopolitics and how Pacific leaders negotiate their relationships with foreign powers, including China, in the COVID-19 era and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"Author label wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>AUTHOR<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Former Fiji Sun deputy managing editor business and senior news journalist&nbsp;<strong>Sheldon Chanel<\/strong>&nbsp;is a freelance journalist based in Suva. Sheldon writes for the Guardian Pacific and is the consulting editor for the University of the South Pacific\u2019s journalism student newspaper, Wansolwara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The Pacific Outlook series is an initiative of the&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.griffith.edu.au\/asia-institute\/partnerships-collaborations\/pacific-hub\" target=\"_blank\">Pacific Hub<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sheldon Chanel shares commentary on the recent &#8220;China In the Pacific&#8221; webinar as China\u2019s  footprint in the Pacific is expected to grow despite the impact of COVID-19. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":7877,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1105,1757,245,1021,248,1055,1056,1057],"tags":[1161,284,1093,969,1050,1117,1147],"class_list":["post-7876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coronavirus-in-the-pacific","category-geopolitics-diplomacy","category-china-and-north-east-asia","category-pacific-outlook","category-png-and-the-pacific","category-economies-and-development","category-politics","category-security","tag-beijing","tag-china","tag-covid19","tag-pacific-islands","tag-pacific-outlook","tag-politics","tag-sheldon-chanel"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"Jill Moriarty","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>China\u2019s footprint in the Pacific | Griffith Asia Insights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sheldon Chanel shares commentary on the recent &quot;China In the Pacific&quot; webinar as China\u2019s footprint in the Pacific is expected to grow despite the impact of COVID-19.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/chinas-footprint-in-the-pacific\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"China\u2019s footprint in the Pacific | Griffith Asia Insights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sheldon Chanel shares commentary on the recent 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It covers various topics including the upcoming BRI Forum, Compact negotiations, Vanuatu's new Prime Minister, Pacific tourists caught in Israel violence, Forum Trade Ministers meeting in Fiji, and Tuvalu's new Constitution.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Region | Papua New Guinea and the Pacific&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Region | Papua New Guinea and the Pacific","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/category\/pacific-outlook\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Griffith University Pacific Outlook banner - map of the Pacific region over a beach background.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/pacific-outlook-banner-900x500-copy-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/pacific-outlook-banner-900x500-copy-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/pacific-outlook-banner-900x500-copy-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/05\/pacific-outlook-banner-900x500-copy-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10652,"url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/griffith-asia-pacific-strategic-outlook-2024\/","url_meta":{"origin":7876,"position":5},"title":"Griffith Asia-Pacific Strategic Outlook 2024","author":"Griffith Asia Institute","date":"21 March 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Discover the region's challenges and opportunities for sustainable development in the Griffith Asia-Pacific Strategic Outlook 2024!","rel":"","context":"In &quot;GAPSO&quot;","block_context":{"text":"GAPSO","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/category\/publication\/feature-series\/gapso\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Griffith Asia-Pacific Strategic Outlook 2024","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/03\/banner-GAPSO-blog.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/03\/banner-GAPSO-blog.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/03\/banner-GAPSO-blog.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/03\/banner-GAPSO-blog.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"featured_image_thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/pacific-china-footprint-2-900x500-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/asiainsights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}