China and Australia's dueling Pacific tours make final stops
The foreign ministers of Australia and China were both making their final stops Friday on what has become an island-hopping diplomatic duel in the South Pacific
China and Australia's dueling Pacific tours make final stops
Show all 2Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The foreign ministers of Australia and China were both making their final stops Friday on what has become an island-hopping diplomatic duel in the South Pacific.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong arrived in Tonga where she met with Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku and other officials including King Tupou VI. Her visit came just three days after China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi held similar meetings in Tonga.
Wong and the officials talked about climate change and rebuilding efforts after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit in January. Also on the agenda was the contentious issue of regional security.
“We are not a government or a country that wants to come in and tell you what you should do,” Wong said at a news conference in the capital, Nuku'alofa.
She said Australia considered itself part of the Pacific family.
“We want regional security to be dealt with, to be the responsibility of the Pacific family,” Wong said. “And we will continue to engage with our friends, our partners in the region.”
Hu’akavameiliku said Tonga was honored that Wong had decided to visit just two weeks after taking office, following an election in Australia.
“This is a clear sign of the Australian government’s strong commitment to strengthening our bilateral relations and engagement with our region,” the prime minister said.
Meanwhile, Wang met in Papua New Guinea with Prime Minister James Marape and other officials ahead of a scheduled flight Friday afternoon to East Timor, the final stop on his eight-nation tour of the region and the first outside of the South Pacific. Wang is due to leave from East Timor on Saturday.
Wang had hoped to ink an ambitious multilateral deal with 10 South Pacific nations this week covering everything from security to fisheries. He couldn’t find consensus on that deal but has been notching up smaller wins by signing bilateral agreements with many of the countries he’s been visiting.
The diplomatic push by China, especially around Pacific security, has caused deep concern among some of the island nations as well as farther afield in Canberra and Washington. Since news of the proposed deal emerged, Wong has made two trips to the Pacific to shore up support for Australia.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.