The Pacific Island Forum, the organization of the Leap countries of the Pacific Ocean, recently met. These countries felt the need to convene a meeting after the visits of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wang to the region. The topic of discussion in the meeting was how to avoid external and internal pressures.
This meeting held on June 7 has increased the diplomatic activity of all the countries including India who are strategically interested in the Indo-Pacific region. The Leap Member States of the Pacific have decided to put aside differences and work together to protect their region from external and internal pressures.
This 18-member organization was established in 1971, when China was making its strides in this area. In the backdrop of the Cold War, this organization got the support of America, Australia and New Zealand. This organization has not been in discussion in the last few years. Since the year 2021, the meeting of this organization has not been held. Differences and mutual disputes had increased regarding the election of the chief. Now with the increasing diplomatic competition between China and America-Australia over the Indo-Pacific region, these countries are beginning to realize that they are in danger of being badly crushed between the two poles. This is the reason that between July 12-14, in the capital of Fiji, Suva, the members of this organization have agreed to settle differences and improve the organization.
Over the past two decades, China has paid a lot of attention to the archipelago countries of the South Pacific. China’s relations with all these countries have undergone massive changes due to extensive economic investment, trade relations and cooperation in the infrastructure sector. These started with the beginning of diplomatic relations with all the countries of the region.
All the countries of the South-Pacific were maintaining relations with Taiwan by giving formal recognition to Taiwan instead of China. This situation has changed rapidly over the past decade and many countries in the South Pacific have attached their allegiance to China. When these activities were happening, America and Australia did not pay attention. But when China engaged in a secret attempt to increase the heights of strategic and military cooperation with these countries, diplomatic activity increased. Agreements on military cooperation could not be reached during the recent visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister to the South-Pacific Islands.
It became clear that it is not yet capable of bringing these countries together on the military front. Along with China’s weakness, it was also exposed that despite all the promises and intentions, for the past several decades, America and Australia had not paid attention to the archipelago countries of the South-Pacific. In fact, at the end of May, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi went on a ten-day visit to the countries of the South-Pacific.
In her tour, Wang Yi visited the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea as well as Timor Leste. Timor has been trying to get ASEAN membership for the past several years. He also participated in the second foreign ministerial meeting of China and Pacific Island countries. Also held online talks with Ministers of Micronesia Cook Islands and Niau.
The big plan behind all these meetings was to somehow sign security agreements with the entire region on the lines of the Solomon Islands. At the beginning of Wang Yi’s tour, there was a general discussion in the media that Wang Yi was going to do something big in this tour.
But the meetings were inconclusive, as there was no consensus on the security agreement in these countries and Wang Yi had to return empty-handed. China’s security deal with the Solomon Islands has sent the US and Australian governments to Fiji that the matter is serious and that China plans to build a wider military hold in the Pacific Islands. Due to this fear, a secret appeal was made to all the countries of the South Pacific not to compromise with China in a hurry, which paid off.
turn in close
On the one hand, China wanted to make a security agreement by treating the countries of the South-Pacific as a friend and a good brother. On the other hand, the Australian Foreign Minister also tried to increase closeness with the countries of South-Pacific by calling them family. Apart from this, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown defined reforms at the Pacific Islands Forum and working with the organization’s countries by saying that a true family is what lasts together.