APIA — Samoa signed a bilateral agreement
with China on Saturday, promising “greater collaboration” as
Beijing’s foreign
minister continues a tour of the South Pacific that has sparked concern among
Western allies.
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The deal’s details are unclear, coming midway
through a
Chinese delegation’s eight-nation trip — but an earlier leaked draft
agreement sent to several Pacific countries outlined plans to expand security
and economic engagement.
The mission has prompted Western leaders to urge
regional counterparts to spurn any Chinese attempt to extend its security reach
across the region.
A press release from the Samoan government confirmed
that Chinese Foreign Minister
Wang Yi and Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi
Mata’afa had met and discussed “climate change, the pandemic, and peace and
security”.
Local media were invited to witness the signing of a
deal, but no questions were taken.
The deal also contained an agreement to help build a
police fingerprinting lab in addition to an already announced police academy in
the country, which follows earlier commitments of “capacity building” for law
enforcement in the Solomon Islands.
The release said that
China would continue to
provide infrastructural development support to various Samoan sectors and there
would be a new framework for future projects “to be determined and mutually
agreed”.
“Samoa and the People’s Republic of China will
continue to pursue greater collaboration that will deliver on joint interests
and commitments,” the release said.
The Chinese delegation has already visited the Solomon
Islands and Kiribati this week.
It arrived in Samoa on Friday night before flying on
Saturday afternoon into Fiji, where Wang will visit Prime Minister
Frank Bainimarama and attend a group meeting of foreign ministers from Pacific
countries.
Other stops are expected in Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua
New Guinea, and East Timor.
In a duel for influence, Australia’s new Foreign
Minister Penny Wong was in Fiji on Friday, seeking to woo island states after
the Solomon Islands took Canberra by surprise last month by signing a
wide-ranging security pact with China.
“We have expressed our concerns publicly about the
security agreement,” Wong told reporters in the capital of Suva.
“As do other Pacific islands, we think there are
consequences. We think that it’s important that the security of the region be
determined by the region. And historically, that has been the case. And we
think that is a good thing.”
At the first stop in Honiara on Thursday, Wang
lashed out at “smears and attacks” against the security pact already signed
with the Solomon Islands.
While the wide-ranging draft agreement and a
five-year plan circulated to several pacific nations, both obtained by AFP,
would give China a larger security footprint in a region seen as crucial to the
interests of the United States and its allies.
In a stark letter to fellow Pacific leaders, Federated
States of
Micronesia President David Panuelo warned the agreement seems
“attractive” at first glance but would allow China to “acquire access and
control of our region”.
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