Waiting for the thaw: the Pacific hopeful on Australia-China reset
Lowy InstituteDec 22, 2022
At the Pacific Way Conference in French Polynesia on Friday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced that Australia would send AUS$900M ($565M) to the Pacific region. The payment will be part of a planned increase of AUS$1.4B (about $878.3M) to the country's overseas development assistance budget over the next four years.
Reports suggest that the funds will help Pacific nation islands deal with issues related to the climate crisis, reduce pressure on stretched government budgets, and aid aviation links in the territory.
China's recent call for a reset in frosty relations between the nations indicates a softening attitude — evidently, China realizes it's risking its international reputation and economic strength by pursuing such a hostile approach in the Pacific region. However, until China's emerging strategy becomes more apparent, greater cooperation between US allies such as Australia, with countries like Fiji and the Solomon Islands, is necessary to maintain territorial independence.
Australian alliances with neighboring countries — formed in opposition to China — are the result of coordinated efforts by the US to turn foreign nations into their own military stepping stones. Such agreements ensure that deployments in strategically sensitive areas would only bring counterattacks on a foreign frontline while the US can sit idly across the Pacific to reap the rewards of their efforts.