Pacific leaders question more about China's influence

By Michael Walsh

The capital of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby, was a sea of ​​red before the APEC summit: Chinese flags punctuated the main roads and the face of China's mighty president for life was stuck high on billboards.

During Chinese President Xi Jinping's official visit in the days leading up to APEC's presence in the country, he highlighted the notable absences of US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But while APEC should have been fully focused on Xi this year, expectations of new loans and aid pledges from China to the Pacific region appeared to be largely unmet. met.

The traditional partners of Australia, Australia, the United States, Japan and New Zealand have overtaken China, whose immense infrastructure promised to the host country, in particular, have been the major points to remember from the top.

Was China 's visit to Port Moresby a sign of change in attitude among Pacific leaders or was it simply a chaotic weekend for Beijing?

Welcome to the Xi Show & # 39;

Jonathan Pryke, of the Lowy Institute, attended the summit last weekend and was also present during Xi's state visit a few days before the official opening of APEC.

"Upstream from the APEC summit, the Xi Show was really well prepared," he said.

"To be honest, the ceremony and ceremonies attached to it were a little exaggerated, with red flags everywhere.

"He was really in a charm offensive and, in every way, Xi's celebrity and accessibility, especially for Papua New Guinea MPs, really resonated."

However, Mr Pryke, director of the institute's Pacific Islands program, said that this really did not correspond to any major announcement from Beijing.

Xi held a special meeting with leaders of Pacific island countries having diplomatic relations with China before the event, which should lead to important new aid pledges.

But the Chinese delegation has banned the Papuan-neo-Guinean and international media to cover the event. Chinese state media, on the other hand, were welcome to report on the procedure.

Mr. Pryke, who was also not allowed to attend the meeting, said that this meant that the observers were still reconstructing what had been discussed between Xi and the Pacific leaders.

It has been revealed that two countries, Tonga and Vanuatu, have announced that they have joined the controversial infrastructure initiative of belts and roads of China, a trillion dollars. but the information has been slow.

"They really come [kicked] a personal goal in banning the media, not making much noise of these ads, "said Pryke.

Towards the end of the summit – after the failure of negotiations over the failure of the summit communiqué – Chinese delegates stormed the office of PNG Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato.

Delegates had previously been denied a meeting with Mr. Pato, who chaired the summit and was required to remain impartial throughout the negotiations.

The security had to be called before the Chinese negotiators left the room, said several independent sources to ABC – The Chinese authorities have denied the incident.

What did Xi promise to the Pacific?

The full picture of how Xi has been meeting with Pacific leaders is still emerging, and the reports of the Chinese media at the dinner have been relatively bland and sparse.

Tonga's decision to subscribe to the "Belt and Road" initiative, accompanied by a five-year reprieve for repayment of the country's debt to China, is a coming announcement.

Tonga had to start repaying the roughly $ 160 million owed to China, about one-third of the country's gross domestic product.

At the meeting, Xi also announced that Vanuatu had signed a memorandum of understanding on the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. The agreement had been signed earlier this month, but had only been made public in Port Moresby.

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China also said that it had approved Vanuatu's request to open a new consulate general.

But it was about that.

"I understand that they were working to try to make big announcements, but the Pacific really worries about China," Pryke said.

"They do not take any offer made to them now.

"China has not found the Pacific gate as open as in the past, so maybe they just ran out of time to reach an agreement."

Mr Pryke said that this was part of a continuing trend in the region, as Pacific leaders become more adept at managing China's engagement in the region.

"As they approach their debt thresholds, they have really seen the results of these borrowings, the quality of the infrastructure – which I must stress, is good – the Pacific leaders have really stale".

Questions remain as to the actual meaning of the belt and road memoranda signed by several Pacific countries, including New Zealand.

"It's very vague, and it does not really commit us to anything other than cooperation, and that's fine with us," Vanuatu's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ralph Regenvanu told AFP. ;ABC. Pacific Beat program.

Whatever the case may be, the announcements were quickly overshadowed by much larger Western commitments at the main summit.

Another type of power game

One of APEC's major pledges will help Australia, the United States, Japan and New Zealand to partner to help fund a major electrification project in Papua New Guinea -Guinea.

The details of what this will cost are yet to come, but Australia will inject about $ 25 million in the first year of the project, while New Zealand has announced a contribution of $ 20 million.

It is estimated that only 13% of Papua New Guineans currently have reliable electricity, and the project aims to increase this figure by 70% by 2030.

US Vice President Mike Pence's announcement that the United States would join with PNG and Australia to redevelop the Lombrum naval base on Manus Island also made turn heads.

In August, China had expressed interest in setting up a port facility on the island of Manus, according to newspaper reports. L & # 39; Australian at the time.

Australia and PNG have announced that they will work together on the redevelopment of the base in early January, but the announcement of US participation in Apec was a surprise to many.

"It's a real affront to China's strategic ambitions in the Pacific Islands region – but again, the devil stays in the details," Pryke said.

"This port was of great strategic importance during the Second World War.

"This can have a significant strategic impact, but it really depends on how much they will invest in this facility."

The doubts of local Manusians will also have to be overcome. The governor of the island blamed Australia this week for not consulting him on the redevelopment of the base, which he said was unnecessary.

China's left flat & # 39;

Australia has pledged to modernize Vanuatu's police infrastructure and support the training of more than 300 new recruits.

This is important because Vanuatu hopes to have 900 police force members by 2020, but budgeting problems have made it difficult to achieve this recruitment goal.

the Vanuatu Daily Post reported that the country had only 560 members of the police force, serving a population of about 280,000 people spread over 83 islands.

However, questions remain about how Vanuatu will manage the ongoing costs of maintaining a much larger police force.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also announced a new Pacific-Australia map, which would facilitate the travel of political leaders as well as businessmen and Pacific athletes to Australia.

A series of new scholarships and partnerships between churches and schools in Australia and the Pacific have been announced.

And this is in addition to this month's announcement that Australia would create a $ 2 billion infrastructure bank offering discounted loans to Pacific countries.

"I think [China] The announcements of these Western partners have left their feet on the ground, "Pryke said.

"While the dust is still falling, China has missed an opportunity to really impose itself as the new major power of the Pacific region."

– ABC