China, US pledge funds for Pacific Islands ahead of key meeting they will not attend
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Major powers including the United States and China are pushing for influence in the Pacific region.
PHOTO: EPA
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SYDNEY – A Chinese corporation has pledged A$1 billion (S$835 million) to Nauru, the Pacific Islands nation with a population of 12,000 said on Aug 12, as major powers including the US push for influence in the region.
The announcement comes ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers of the Pacific Islands Forum regional bloc on Aug 14 and the region’s top political meeting in September.
The Solomon Islands, which hosts the annual leaders’ meeting and is China’s biggest ally in the region, made the surprise decision to block 21 donor countries
The US expressed disappointment with the move but on Aug 12 made its own US$60 million (S$77.2 million) pledge to the region under a 2022 treaty, as news of the Chinese agreement with Nauru was made public.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau told Pacific Islands officials in Washington on Aug 11 the long-promised funds would be released by the Trump administration, the US State Department said.
Meanwhile, Australia, the largest forum member, has sent high-level delegations to Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Vanuatu for security talks.
Nauru said its Foreign Affairs Minister Lionel Aingimea had signed the proposal in Beijing worth A$1 billion with the China Rural Revitalisation and Development Corporation for economic development.
The deal was signed last week and would develop Nauru’s renewable energy, phosphate industry, fisheries, water, agriculture, transport and health sectors, the statement said.
A Nauru government official was unable to provide further details.
Nauru’s President David Adeang visited China in July to trace his ancestral roots, China’s embassy in Nauru said in July.
The Pacific leaders’ meeting in September will consider regional security, with Australia seeking to block China from forging further security ties in its Pacific neighbourhood.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Defence Minister Richard Marles and Pacific Minister Pat Conroy will hold security talks in Vanuatu on Aug 13, with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reporting a deal worth A$500 million over a decade under consideration.
Vanuatu said the two countries expected to sign a deal covering infrastructure and economic development in September.
Ms Wong said in a Sky television interview on Aug 12 that the Pacific is “essential to our stability, to our security”.
Mr Marles on Aug 12 opened the Lombrum Naval Base in PNG, which he said was the largest security infrastructure project delivered by Australia in the Pacific.
The upgrade to the PNG defence base was funded by the US and Australia. REUTERS
