Canberra commits to Pacific islands' defence training

SYDNEY • Australia will set up a defence school to train Pacific island militaries, Canberra's new Pacific minister said, amid mounting competition for security ties in the region and as China plans a rival meeting to next month's Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).

Australia will double its funding for aerial surveillance of the Pacific islands' vast fishing zone, and provide financing to build more resilient infrastructure as sea-level rises are forecast to be four-times the global average, the Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Mr Pat Conroy, told a conference yesterday.

"The Australian government knows that the issue of security is inseparable from the issue of climate change," he said in a video address to the Pacific conference in Fiji's capital Suva.

During the PIF taking place in Suva next month, regional leaders are expected to discuss China's push to strike a trade and security deal with 10 Pacific island nations that have diplomatic ties with China. Australia and New Zealand have expressed concern at China's recent security deal struck with the Solomon Islands.

A leaked draft of the deal showed it covered fisheries and maritime security as well as police training.

The 18-member forum includes Australia, New Zealand and the Solomon Islands, as well as several nations that recognise Taiwan and not Beijing.

China, which is not a PIF member, is seeking to host a video meeting with the 10 nations it wants to sign to a multilateral pact on July 14, to coincide with the final day of the PIF leaders' meeting, said a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

The political leadership dialogue planned by the Communist Party of China's international department also coincides with the day a communique would be expected to be issued by the forum leaders.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters at a daily briefing in Beijing yesterday that questions about the meeting should be referred to "relevant competent authorities", but offered some broad comments.

"China's relations with Pacific island countries are currently developing well, with government departments, legislative bodies, political parties and civil society on both sides maintaining close contacts and cooperation," he said.

He noted that the PIF had suspended an annual meeting traditionally held during the forum for non-member countries regarded as dialogue partners, including China and the United States.

"We fully respect the decision of the PIF side to suspend the dialogue event this year and will maintain close communication with the discussants on the follow-up arrangements," he added.

REUTERS