China has warning for Pacific

As Chinese President Xi Jinping prepares to meet in Port Moresby with eight Pacific island leaders, Beijing has warned that no country should try to obstruct its ‘‘friendship and cooperation’’ with Pacific nations that have already received US$3 billion (NZ$4.4 billion) in Chinese investment.

A battle of diplomacy dollars is rapidly escalating in the Pacific, with Australia, Japan, the United States and China all expected to pledge to lift infrastructure and aid funding to the impoverished region in the next week as world leaders gather in Papua New Guinea for the APEC summit.

‘‘No country should try to obstruct the friendship and cooperation . . . China has no intention to touch the cheese of any country. Instead, China is committed to make the pie of cooperation larger,’’ said Chinese viceminister of foreign affairs Zheng Zeguang, when asked about the expansion of Australian aid in the Pacific.

One hundred Chinese projects had been completed in the Pacific, including power stations, telecommunications, hospitals, schools, office buildings and convention centres, Zheng said. China had helped to train over 6000 professionals, and climate change was an ‘‘important area of cooperation’’.

Australia is the dominant aid provider for Pacific nations. Last week Prime Minister Scott Morrison unveiled a A$2 billion (NZ$2.13B) infrastructure fund for telecommunications, energy, transport and water projects. He described the Pacific nations as ‘‘family’’ and ‘‘our patch’’.

‘‘The Pacific island region is not the sphere of influence of any country,’’ Zheng said.