Penny Wong is racing to match China’s diplomatic advance in the Pacific, flying into Samoa and Tonga just days after Beijing’s top envoy signed deals with the island nations | ErykBagshaw
Penny Wong will race back to the Pacific to match China’s diplomatic advance, flying into Samoa and Tonga just days after Beijing’s top envoy signed new deals with the island nations.
China and Australia’s foreign ministers Wang Yi and Penny Wong are competing for influence in the Pacific region.Ahead of her flight on Wednesday night, Wong said Australia understood that the security of the Pacific “is the responsibility of the Pacific family, of which Australia is a part”. The Chinese Foreign Minister’s visit to Samoa at the weekend involved negotiations on climate change, pandemic recovery and police training. In Tonga on Tuesday, Wang committed China’s resources to disaster management agencies, a police laboratory and customs inspection equipment - sharpening Beijing’s focus on its humanitarian and security priorities. Wang was in Vanuatu on Wednesday. China, but Wednesday’s discussions have yet to be publicly released.