Editorial | US would do well to ease China tensions through diplomacy
- Washington is creating an environment of suspicion and mistrust towards Beijing in the South Pacific and throughout Asia as both seek to strengthen alliances
A flurry of diplomatic activity by Beijing is under way in the South Pacific as the dust settles on American President Joe Biden’s efforts to strengthen Asian alliances. State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting eight island nations in 10 days in a trip aimed at improving economic and security ties.
But the tour is being viewed with anxiety by the region’s long-time power brokers, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, which contend growing Chinese influence is a threat to peace and stability. Paradoxically, China has voiced the same argument about Washington’s strategy, which it has labelled divisive and aimed at containing and isolating.
Wang’s first stop was the Solomon Islands, which has signed a security agreement with China that was objected to by Washington, Canberra, Wellington and Tokyo. They worry that it could give China a military foothold in the Pacific, a claim dismissed by Chinese and Solomons officials, who contend it is about domestic policing.
The suspicion is likely to follow Wang throughout his trip, which also takes in Fiji, where he will hold his second-ever forum with South Pacific counterparts Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and East Timor.
The visit is in tandem with a drive to boost ties in Latin America, another region the US considers part of its sphere of influence. Wang promoted President Xi Jinping’s proposed “Global Security Initiative” earlier this month in phone calls with counterparts from Uruguay, Nicaragua and Ecuador.