Public broadcasters across Pacific island countries are facing pressure from Beijing to carry content produced by the Chinese government, the head of Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) told a public hearing yesterday, as China and Western democracies vie to have the most influence in the region.
The ABC is seeking an additional A$12 million (US$8.6 million) in funding from the Australian government to increase the country’s news coverage and presence in the Pacific region.
ABC managing director David Anderson said that the broadcaster’s presence in the region is important, “particularly with concerns, frankly, over the Chinese government.”
“The single biggest piece of information that comes back from them is concern over the pressure that the Chinese government put on them to carry content, to broadcast through the Pacific,” he told the Australian Senate hearing, referring to Pacific island broadcasters.
Australia and China have been competing for regional influence over the past few years, including through economic aid and infrastructure loans.
Small Pacific island nations are important partners for Beijing as it seeks to expand its global diplomatic network, including its support base in the UN, while Australia enjoys long-term links with the region.
China and Australia are not the only two nations with a stake in the Pacific.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a stopover in the region after his trip to Melbourne for a foreign ministers’ meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or “Quad,” members: the US, India, Australia and Japan.
Blinken announced that Washington would open an embassy in the Solomon Islands for the first time.
Anderson said that the ABC wants to work with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the Pacific region.
The additional funding would be important to help push what “was once-called soft diplomacy,” he said.
The Chinese government held its first foreign ministers’ meeting with Pacific island nations in October last year, including Fiji, Tonga, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands, where Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said that “all countries, regardless of their size, strength and wealth, are equal.”
Anderson said that he believes there is “intergenerational trust” between Australia and Pacific island nations that has been “built up over many years.”
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