China growing influence in the island states of Oceania
President of China in a bilateral meeting with Vanuatu delegation
China and the Island States of Oceania (Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu, Federated States of Micronesia, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, and Niue) have long-standing friendly diplomatic relations, which began in the 1970s and have continued to this day. Since their establishment, both China and the Island States of Oceania have continued to expand trade and cooperation in more than 20 different areas from trade to investment, through tourism to environmental protection and culture. For Oceania Island countries, China provided economic and technical assistance in both 2014 and 2018 Chinese President Xi Jinping made two visits to the South Pacific region and held meetings with leaders of Island states of Oceania which have diplomatic ties with China. Notably, in 2014 Xi Jinping flew to Fiji for a state visit and also held a group meeting with the 10 representative leaders who have diplomatic ties with China. In November 2018, on the other hand, the Chinese president flew to Papua New Guinea for another state visit and again held another group meeting with the leaders of the island states of Oceania that have diplomatic ties with Beijing.
On this occasion, relations have been upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership characterized by mutual respect and development.
In addition, last year, from late May to early June, China’s State Counsellor and Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, has been invited to visit the South Pacific Island countries and chair the second meeting of Foreign Ministers of the China-Pacific Island countries. This was certainly a demonstration of how important it is for China and the PIC to strengthen international relations, thus enhancing mutual trust and expanding cooperation. Wang Yi’s arrival raised concerns in Australia and the US, as both countries fear China’s financial and military ambitions in the South Pacific.
On the same occasion in the Samoan Islands, a bilateral agreement was signed to create greater cooperation, and during the meeting between Wang Yi and the Samoan Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, issues such as the pandemic, climate change, peace and security were addressed.
In the Kiribati Islands, on the other hand, Wang YI signed cooperation documents for building infrastructure and combating climate change fallout, but also opportunities to lay the foundations for security pacts between the two countries. The Chinese foreign minister used the occasion to address the United States and Australia, pivotal in oceanic affairs, stating that they have done everything to block China’s development.
It can therefore be said in general that China-ICP relations are in a phase of rapid growth. This is also thanks to the south-eastern expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative, which has made the PICs become important economic and trade partners of China as well.
According to a report published by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the total trade volume between China and the PICs increased from USD 153 million in 1992 to USD 5.3 billion in 2021, and in the same year, China made direct investments in the countries in question for an amount of USD 2.70 billion.
An important issue in the context of bilateral relations between China and the island states of Oceania is the Solomon Islands. Here in a remote archipelago in Oceania, located east of Indonesia and north of Australia, a key chapter in the strategic competition between the US and China is being written.
Last April, in fact, China and the Solomon Islands signed a security agreement which stipulates that China can send soldiers in the event of a threat to the social order of the islands themselves. The agreement in question constitutes the umpteenth part of the challenge between the current hegemon, the United States, and the power that aspires to contend for supremacy, China, but at the same time it appeals to the domestic dynamics of the small Melanesian state.
The Solomons are at the centre of the hegemonic clash between China and the United States both as a matter of geography and geostrategy.
As for the geographical issue. China’s maritime aspirations have been inhibited since 1949, the year in which a strategy of containment encirclement began under the name of the ‘Chain of Islands’, the extremist and anti-Chinese equivalent of the more famous ‘anti-Soviet containment’, on which the United States’ primacy in the Indo-Pacific depends. Islands such as Taiwan, archipelagos of Japan and the Philippines, and straits such as Malacca, which together force China to be only a land power, but which prevent it from rising to naval power and the current ‘Chain of Islands’ would, in the event of war, embrace it in a ‘lethal grip’.
The Solomon Islands, therefore, play a crucial role.
This is because of their location is enough to see a globe or a map of the region. Indeed, wedged perfectly between the Indonesian archipelago, White Oceania and the Polynesian Triangle, the Solomon Islands are a three-way springboard and also an outpost capable of piercing the first two island circles.
The other issue is geostrategic. Indeed, the Solomon Islands have a veritable mine of riches in their territory. The first and most obvious has been represented, historically, by forests. These have certainly represented profit for the country, but at the same time also structural environmental problems such as deforestation and an impact on the country’s coral reefs, a vital part of the food ecosystem.
The country also has deposits of gold, nickel and in Guadalcanal, the archipelago’s pivot island, the former has been mined on an industrial scale in the Gold Ridge mine since 1998. After a brief period of closure, caused by socio-political tensions triggered by the poor redistribution of profits between the owners and the local population, the deposit was reopened and underwent several changes of ownership, always involving Australian companies, experiencing a season of intensive exploitation that lasted until 2015. The turning point, however, was 2019, in which, after a succession of negotiations and surprises, the breakthrough came in the form of the takeover by China Railway Group Limited, which took place for the modest sum of almost a billion dollars and is valid until 2034.
Furthermore, according to an academic article published in Chemical Geologynel in 2019, the possible presence of riches in the Solomon Islands archipelago, in particular lanthanum, cerium and europium, has been revealed. The former element is ductile and essential for strengthening special steels for energy transition technologies. Cerium, on the other hand, is a key element for aluminum alloys. Finally, europium is a material whose possible use in nuclear reactors is being investigated due to its ability to absorb neutrons.
Although the characteristics of this agreement between China and the Solomon Islands are not entirely clear, what is certain is that China is more active and ready to extend its military support to other states in the search for new allies than the US.
China in fact moved ahead in Oceania and managed to fill a vacuum created by decades of American disinterest. Only recently has the US changed its attitude, but it will take both time and patience to build relationships based on trust and compete with Beijing in the long term. The development of an effective strategy cannot be achieved without greater understanding and adaptation to the island states of Oceania. To achieve this will require tapping into the well of knowledge of allies such as Australia and New Zealand who have been interfacing with these islands for decades.
By Michele Brunori
