China has renewed efforts to curry favor in Pacific island nations, a new report found on Wednesday, after charting a “resurgence” in Beijing-backed aid and infrastructure funding.
Over the past decade, China has lavished billions of dollars on Pacific island nations, part of ongoing efforts to build influence in competition with the US and its allies.
Having cut back on Pacific aid at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, China’s commitments have climbed in recent years, the Lowy Institute said in a new study.
Photo: AFP
“Beijing has emerged from a pandemic-induced lull with a more competitive, politically targeted model of aid engagement,” the Australia-based think tank said in its annual Pacific aid report.
“The uptick in Chinese spending has been accompanied by a resurgence in new Chinese project commitments, signaling a revival in its ambition to engage in major infrastructure works in the Pacific,” it said.
Australia — traditionally the Pacific’s partner of choice — remained the largest donor, but US funding now narrowly trails that of China, the second-largest bilateral donor in the region, authors Alexandre Dayant and Riley Duke said.
In 2022, the most recent year with complete data, China spent $256 million — up nearly 14 percent from three years earlier.
Australia spent US$1.5 billion, and the US spent $249 million — both figures falling after a sharp increase the previous year.
There had been a noticeable shift in the way China engages throughout the region, the report said.
Instead of splashing cash in a broad-brush approach, Beijing was increasingly zeroing in on a handful of friendly Pacific Island states.
Solomon Islands and Kiribati were singled out for school upgrades, new roads and government vehicles after severing diplomatic links with Taiwan in 2019.
Papua New Guinea, which signed a security agreement with the US last year, saw development funding from China dwindle.
Tunisian President Kais Saied yesterday condemned a European Parliament resolution on human rights calling for the release of his critics as “blatant interference.” The EU Parliament resolution, voted by an overwhelming majority the day before, called for the release of lawyer Sonia Dahmani, a popular critic of Saied, who was freed from prison on Thursday, but remained under judicial supervision. “The European Parliament [resolution] is a blatant interference in our affairs,” Saied said. “They can learn lessons from us on rights and freedoms.” Saied’s condemnation also came two days after he summoned the EU’s ambassador for “failing to respect diplomatic rules.” He also
Tropical Storm Koto killed three people and left another missing as it approached Vietnam, authorities said yesterday, as strong winds and high seas buffeted vessels off the country’s flood-hit central coast. Heavy rains have lashed Vietnam’s middle belt in recent weeks, flooding historic sites and popular holiday destinations, and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Authorities ordered boats to shore and diverted dozens of flights as Koto whipped up huge waves and dangerous winds, state media reported. Two vessels sank in the rough seas, a fishing boat in Khanh Hoa province and a smaller raft in Lam Dong, according to the
Sri Lanka made an appeal for international assistance yesterday as the death toll from heavy rains and floods triggered by Cyclone Ditwah rose to 123, with another 130 reported missing. The extreme weather system has destroyed nearly 15,000 homes, sending almost 44,000 people to state-run temporary shelters, the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said. DMC Director-General Sampath Kotuwegoda said relief operations had been strengthened with the deployment of thousands of troops from the country’s army, navy and air force. “We have 123 confirmed dead and another 130 missing,” Kotuwegoda told reporters in Colombo. Cyclone Ditwah was moving away from the island yesterday and
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
RSS