Opinion | How the US and Australia can counter China’s charm offensive in the South Pacific

A domino effect as more Pacific Islands switch from ties with Taipei to Beijing could threaten Australia’s shipping lines and destroy the US Indo-Pacific strategy

It’s time for the US and Australia to invest more trade, money and attention to climate change, to ensure friendly allies in the region

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Kiribati President Taneti Mamau (left) shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on September 27, after agreeing to restore diplomatic relations at the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations, in New York on September 27. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 11:00am, 4 Oct 2019Updated: 11:59am, 4 Oct 2019

In his book Pivot, the former US assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific, Kurt Campbell, argues that the US has overlooked the South Pacific and failed to see its geostrategic relationship to the US defence posture in Asia.

The US has moved from its “pivot” to an “Indo-Pacific Strategy”, making the region all the more important, from a geostrategic point of view. And one that China, similar to Japan during the second world war, sees as crucial to its defence.

It should come as no surprise that China seeks to drive a hole in the Indo-Pacific strategy to clear a path from the South China Sea deep into the Western Pacific, just short of Hawaii. Flipping the allegiance of both the Solomon Islands and Kiribati from Taipei to Beijing indisputably advances that goal. Kiribati is only 2,900 km (1,800 miles) from Hawaii and used to be a Chinese missile tracking station.

Australia’s security is also seriously challenged by the proximity of Pacific island states, where it is feared that China will build military installations. Not only did the Solomon Islands and Kiribati break diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but Tuvalu could follow suit.

Concern abounds that a domino effect could ensue that would form a crescent of Pacific island nations heavily influenced by China. Such an eventuality could cut off Australian shipping lines to the US and other destinations, and serve as a roadblock to American troops potentially coming to Australia’s aid.

The US and Australia could both have put greater effort into addressing the needs of the region. Only when faced with the possibility of the Solomons breaking relations with Taiwan did the US talk about reopening its embassy in the country. The US embassy in Papua New Guinea covers the Solomons and Vanuatu.