{"id":82242,"date":"2022-05-26T11:11:08","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T16:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=82242"},"modified":"2022-05-26T11:11:08","modified_gmt":"2022-05-26T16:11:08","slug":"the-pacific-a-chinese-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=82242","title":{"rendered":"The Pacific – a Chinese lake?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Awhile back we touched on the arrangement China has entered into with the Solomon Islands, a deal which has sparked concerns that perhaps China has an eye towards an increased presence in the Pacific.

Starting today, the Chinese Foreign Minister is beginning a visit to several Pacific Island nations. From China’s Foreign Ministry<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From May 26 to June 4, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will pay official visits to eight countries, namely Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste, and a virtual visit to the Federated States of Micronesia upon invitation. He will also hold video conference with Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Cook Islands and Premier and Foreign Minister of Niue, and host the second China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers\u2019 Meeting in Fiji.\u2002<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Also today, the Chinese Foreign Minister met with his counterpart<\/a> in the Solomons and outlined three principles behind their cooperation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first principle is to fully respect the national sovereignty of Solomon Islands. China-Solomon Islands cooperation is based on Solomon Islands’ needs and requirements, on the premise of Solomon Islands’ consent, and on the basis of equal consultation. It is never China’s foreign policy, nor is it Chinese style, to impose business deals on others, interfere in Solomon Islands’ internal affairs, or damage other countries’ interests.

The second one is to help maintain the social stability of Solomon Islands. China-Solomon Islands security cooperation includes assistance in maintaining social order, protecting lives and property in accordance with the law as well as conducting humanitarian relief and natural disaster response at the request of Solomon Islands. The aim is to help Solomon Islands strengthen police capacity-building, offset the security governance deficit and maintain domestic stability and long-lasting peace and security. China-Solomon Islands security cooperation is aboveboard and frank, not imposing on others, not targeting third parties and not intending to establish military bases.

The third one is in parallel with regional arrangements. China supports Pacific Island Countries in strengthening security cooperation and working together to address regional security challenges. China also supports the existing regional security cooperation arrangements. At the same time, China-Solomon Islands security cooperation and the existing regional arrangements complement each other, sharing the same objectives and interests. China-Solomon Islands security cooperation conforms to the common interests of Solomon Islands and the South Pacific region.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


The last one is our topic for today. What “regional arrangements” are we talking about here? The AP provides some details<\/a> on what China is up to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

China wants 10 small Pacific nations to endorse a sweeping agreement covering everything from security to fisheries in what one leader warns is a \u201cgame-changing\u201d bid by Beijing to wrest control of the region.

A draft of the agreement obtained by The Associated Press shows that China wants to train Pacific police officers, team up on \u201ctraditional and non-traditional security\u201d and expand law enforcement cooperation.

Wang is visiting seven of the countries he hopes will endorse the \u201cCommon Development Vision\u201d \u2014 the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.

Wang is also holding virtual meetings with the other three potential signatories \u2014 the Cook Islands, Niue and the Federated States of Micronesia. He is hoping the countries will endorse the pre-written agreement as part of a joint communique after a May 30 meeting in Fiji he is holding with the foreign ministers from each of the 10 countries.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In other words, China wants to extend the arrangement it has with the Solomons to other nations in the Pacific.

This morning, US Secretary of Blinken made a speech at the Asias Society regarding the US policy towards China. One reason for this was to smooth over all the ripples in the Zen pond his boss made about Taiwan. A State Dept transcript is not yet available, but video is available here<\/a>. Blinken’s remarks start at about the 50 minute mark. The VoA has a summary here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The administration is not seeking to “decouple” from China, according to senior officials. The term refers to progressively severing economic and trade linkages between the United States and China and was often heard during the administration of former President Donald Trump.

“The secretary will make clear that the United States is not looking to sever China’s economy from ours or from the global economy,” one senior administration official said during a background call to preview Blinken’s China speech.

On Taiwan, Blinken will reiterate that Washington’s policy is not changed and that the United States remains committed to its One China policy, which has been guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three joint communiques and the six assurances.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Not exactly strong words warning China not to get too aggressive in the Pacific.

Biden was in Tokyo this past week, which is where his own mental ambiguity led to his remarks fumbling the ball on Taiwan.

China and Russia conducted a joint bomber patrol<\/a> while Biden was there, a pointed diplomatic reply akin to a dog baring its fangs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russian and Chinese bombers flew joint patrols near Japanese and South Korea air defense zones on Tuesday in a pointed farewell to U.S. President Joe Biden as he concluded a trip to Asia that rankled Beijing.

The patrols came hours after Biden angered China by saying he would be willing to respond militarily to defend Taiwan if it came under Chinese attack, and as he discussed responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with leaders of the Quad, which groups the United States with Australia, India and Japan.

Japan said it scrambled jets after Russian and Chinese warplanes neared its airspace while Tokyo was hosting the Quad leaders. Tokyo called the drills a provocation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It is a dangerous world, we are led by donkeys, and China is taking advantage of our growing weakness to plant flags in the Pacific.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Awhile back we touched on the arrangement China has entered into with the Solomon Islands, a deal which has sparked concerns that perhaps China has an eye towards an increased presence in the Pacific. Starting today, the Chinese Foreign Minister is beginning a visit to several Pacific Island nations. From China’s Foreign Ministry: From May […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":273926,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/273926"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=82242"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82277,"href":"https:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82242\/revisions\/82277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=82242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=82242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=82242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}