China slams AUKUS partnership
Chinese FM Wang Yi said the Pacific should not be a playground for major powers
Beijing, China - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticised the AUKUS trilateral defence partnership between the US, UK and Australia on Sunday, saying the Pacific should not become an arena for major power competition.
During a joint press conference with his Papua New Guinean counterpart Justin Tkatchenko, Wang expressed concerns over the AUKUS agreement during his visit to Papua New Guinea, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.
He emphasised that the Pacific ‘should not be a playground for major powers’, raising objections to the US, UK and Australia introducing nuclear submarine development in the region.
He argued that this move violates the objectives of the Treaty of Rarotonga, the common name for the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty of 1985.
Wang reiterated China’s stance against bloc-to-bloc confrontation in the region, highlighting that such an approach does not align with the needs and historical development trends of Pacific countries.
He also emphasised China’s
Wang reiterated China’s stance against bloc-to-bloc confrontation in the region, highlighting that such an approach does not align with the needs and development trends of Pacific countries
commitment to ‘South-south cooperation’, which is based on solidarity between developing countries and is not driven by geopolitical interests or agendas.
In response to efforts to counterbalance China’s economic influence in the Pacific, including through the AUKUS and QUAD alliances, Beijing has been strengthening its ties with Pacific island nations to gain ground in the region.
This includes a controversial security agreement signed with the Solomon Islands in 2022 which has raised concerns about the presence of Chinese warships in Solomon Islands’ ports and the authorisation for Chinese security personnel to maintain social order and protect life, property and Chinese projects.
Critics argue that the agreement essentially serves as a ‘security pact’, allowing China to deploy its military for the protection of its citizens and projects in the southern Pacific Ocean.
Joint military drills
Meanwhile, some 16,000 US and Philippine troops kicked off the annual joint military drills on Monday in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), local media reported.
WPS is the official designation by Philippines to the parts of the South China Sea that are included in the country’s exclusive economic zone.
The 19-day exercises, dubbed ‘Balikatan 2024’, will involve around 5,000 Philippine and 11,000 US troops, making it the largest joint military drills between the two allies conducted in decades, local English daily Manila Times reported citing the military.
A total of 14 nations, including Japan and India, will take part in the drills as observers amid mounting maritime tensions in the South China Sea.
Contingents from the Australian Defence Force and the French Navy will also join the exercise as participants.
France will join the group sail but will only navigate on the edge of the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in WPS.
The Japan Defence Force was supposed to join the maritime sail but did not respond to the Philippine army’s invitation on time.