Commentary
In late May, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a virtual summit with the leaders of several Pacific Island republics to entice them into joining a Beijing-led mutual security and economic agreement. It did not end well.
During the summit, Beijing proposed that the Federated States of Micronesia, the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Niue, and Timor-Leste join it in a new “China-Pacific Island Countries Common Development Vision.”
The proposed pact was sweeping, in particular creating a free trade zone within the member states, as well as providing humanitarian and COVID-19 assistance. It also included Chinese assistance in training Pacific Islander police forces, strengthening cybersecurity, and marine mapping….