It terminated a cooperation agreement with the Chinese police. During the election campaign, Rabuka had promised to distance himself from China. The new government is oriented towards the traditional partners, Australia and New Zealand. The South Pacific is a key area in the geopolitical competition between Beijing and the US.
Beijing () – The Fijian government of Sitiveni Rabuka has terminated the training and exchange agreement with the Chinese police. It is the first move by Suva’s new prime minister, who vowed to distance himself from Beijing during the election campaign.
Rabuka pointed out that his country’s (democratic) political system and the functioning of justice are different from those in China. For that reason, he added, Fiji will once again turn to the countries with which he has the most in common, such as Australia and New Zealand.
After the December 14 elections, Rabuka managed to form a coalition executive that ousted Frank Bainimarama, who had ruled the island country for 16 years after a military coup. During his rule, Fiji strengthened ties with China, while trying to maintain good relations with the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
The South Pacific is a region of important strategic value in the geopolitical confrontation between China and the United States. In May the Chinese signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands, the terms of which are secret. The deal would guarantee Chinese warships the right to make stopovers and resupply operations in the archipelago’s ports, a possibility Solomon’s Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has repeatedly denied.
Unlike the Solomon Islands, the other South Pacific states have rejected China’s offer of a major regional pact on trade and security.
Washington, Canberra and Wellington show concern about Chinese activism in the region. The United States and its allies fear that Beijing could establish military outposts in the South Pacific, as it has done in the South China Sea. From a China containment perspective, this would pose a direct threat to US Navy naval connections between Hawaii and the western Pacific.
