The News
Pacific Island nations are at the center of a “great game” between the US and China, an Australian think tank argued, as the two superpowers compete for influence in the region.
Western powers and Beijing are vying for access to key shipping lanes and seabed minerals, according to a report from the Lowy Institute.
SIGNALS
China cultivating more partnerships with Pacific nations
Beijing is “expanding its diplomatic reach” aggressively in the Pacific, the Lowy Institute noted, and has been pushing for new partnerships in key sectors across the region, including development finance and diplomatic outreach. That has upended the traditional balance of power, with the US and Australia worrying their influence may be waning, the report argued. China and the US are now locked into a battle to woo island nations in the Pacific: “Major players are scaling up their regional presence and diplomacy to build connections and win diplomatic advantage,” the institute wrote.
Beijing used Nauru to isolate Taiwan
In January, the island nation of Nauru decided that it would end its relationship with Taiwan in favor of China, a decision that left Taipei with just 12 diplomatic partners including three Pacific Island nations. China has strategically courted Taiwan’s allies in recent years as it tries to exert control over the island, which Beijing considers part of its territory, Bloomberg reported. “From the perspective of the CCP, isolating Taiwan diplomatically is a matter of sovereignty,” Graeme Smith, a senior fellow with the Department of Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University, argued. The effort Beijing makes to isolate Taipei is largely “for the benefit of its domestic audience, both the Chinese public, and more importantly, members of the CCP.”