Analysis: China and Australia’s diplomatic tactics collide in the Pacific | erykbagshaw
The motorcade rolls in, millions of dollars in economic investment promises are made, and cooperation deals are later signed.“The days when global decisions were dictated by a small group of countries are long gone,” a Chinese Foreign Affairs official told the G7 last year.
His counterpart - Australia’s new Foreign Minister Penny Wong - has no such luxury. Arriving in Suva today, she will have to persuade Fiji to convince other Pacific countries that sticking with Australia as their top partner in the region is worth their trouble. Officials are working extra hard to undo the perception that it is elitist and exclusionary, fuelled by Beijing’s daily exercise in labelling it and other groups of which China and other developing countries are not members as “exclusive cliques”.
Wong, who was sworn in as Foreign Minister on Monday, has inherited a much bigger seat at the international table than when Labor was last in power a decade ago. The Morrison government’s response to China’s bullying has made Australia a bigger player in the debates about Beijing’s ascendancy. She will have to work overtime to balance Australia’s multilateral obligations with big powers while trying to convince smaller nations that they are still being heard.
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