China will be seeking a region-wide deal with 10 nations in the South Pacific. The country offers to help the Pacific Island countries improve their network infrastructure, cyber security, digital forensics, and other capabilities.
The documents seen by newswire Reuters detailed China's ambition that will rollout as China's foreign minister Wang Yi starts a tour of Pacific nations this week and next.
Assistance with data governance, training local police, and mapping the marine environment were among the proposed in the draft agreement. The deal also offer supply of customs management applications, possible funding of data links to island nations, and cyber-security assistance.
China Accused of ‘Debt Trap Diplomacy’
The reports were acknowledge by Australian foreign minister Penny Wong, who made another offer of financial and development assistance with what she says has fewer special demands.
According to The Register, that's a nod to accusations that China practices what's been labelled "debt trap diplomacy." This is a practice where development assistance comes with repayment plans that small nations may not be able to afford.
If a small nation failed to comply with the repayment, Chinese entities will take ownership of its assets.
Citing worries that it could effectively see them lose control of key in their country, Pacific nations have pushed back on the plan.
According to Reuters, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said the United States is aware of Wang Yi's plans and was "concerned that these reported agreements may be negotiated in a rushed, non-transparent process."
According to Price, recent security agreements reached by China had been conducted with little regional consultation. This provoked concern in the United States and across the region.
"We don't believe that importing security forces from the PRC and their methods will help any Pacific Island country," Price said.
He said that importing security forces can only seek to fuel regional and international tension, which can also increase concerns over Beijing's expansion of its internal apparatus to the Pacific.
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How Important Are the Nations in the South Pacific?
The nations of the South Pacific do not have large populations, or economies but their location makes them strategically significant. The South Pacific nation's airstrips and harbors offer the chance to project force against trans-Pacific shipping.
The recent volcanic eruption in Tonga demonstrated that severed submarine cables illustrated that Pacific nations are as dependent on internet connectivity and therefore a secure online environment.
The problem is that the region's nations are far from wealthy.
China has noticed of the region's challenges. Meanwhile, other nations are aware of the challenges posed by China's regional ambitions. Thus, to prevent Digicel from being acquired by a Chinese company, Australia funded the purchase of the regional mobile carrier.
In addition, the U.S. operates a "clean networks" policy that tries to prevent any form of network that uses Chinese equipment or companies, from having the ability to influence stateside networks.
Therefore, if the Pacific nations will accept Chinese assistance, it might give the impression that they alienating their allies.
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