Category: china-pacific

Rules, Bilateral Ties the Key to Dealing With Beijing Challenge: Australian Foreign Minister

A strong rules-based order bound by bilateral ties is key to dealing with challenges from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and North Korea, says Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong. Wong warned that the Indo-Pacific faced a critical test from powers wishing to create a “closed, hierarchical region where the rules are dictated by a single…


Former Fijian PM Frank Bainimarama Banned From Parliament for ‘Seditious’ Speech

Fiji’s former prime minister and incumbent opposition leader Frank Bainimarama has been banned from parliament for three years after making “seditious” remarks and insulting the president. The Fijian Parliament voted on the decision to terminate Bainimarama on Friday, with Bainimarama being accused of breaching parliamentary privileges. Bainimarama, Fiji’s longest-serving PM and leader of the FijiFirst…


Australia’s Pacific Pivot Continues to Counter Beijing’s Pacific Push

The Australian government is continuing its counter to Beijing’s Pacific push, with the Foreign Minister Penny Wong announcing a new media deal with the Marshall Islands on Oct. 14. Wong is carrying out her eighth official bilateral visit, since her appointment in May, to the Pacific region where she is visiting the nations of the…


Beijing Inks Security, Economic and Disaster Relief Deal With Pacific Nation Tonga

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has managed to secure several bilateral agreements with Tonga on disaster relief, agriculture, fishery, health and police equipment as he reaches the backend of his ten-day trip around the Pacific. It comes after Beijing vows to continue pushing Pacific nations to join a sweeping regional security and economy deal despite…


Journalists Blocked by Chinese Officials During Foreign Minister’s Pacific Trip

Chinese delegations have barred journalists who report on the Chinese foreign minister’s Pacific tour from calling out questions, recording and accessing information prompting concerns about the tour’s secrecy. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is on day six of a ten-day trip to eight Pacific countries in a bid to deepen ties with the island nations….


Australia to Spend $300 Million in Pacific to Combat Beijing Money

The Australian government has committed to spending $300 million (US$232 million) on infrastructure projects in the Pacific region as a way to combat Beijing’s predatory lending in the region. In a report by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, it was revealed that the move is part of Australia’s Pacific step-up efforts and includes…