{"id":38550,"date":"2018-04-16T06:00:25","date_gmt":"2018-04-15T20:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=38550"},"modified":"2018-04-16T10:03:29","modified_gmt":"2018-04-16T00:03:29","slug":"awkward-alarum-china-vanuatu-oz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/awkward-alarum-china-vanuatu-oz\/","title":{"rendered":"Awkward alarum: China, Vanuatu and Oz"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Australia\u2019s reaction to the idea of a China getting \u2018a full military base\u2019 in Vanuatu ranged from aghast to agog.<\/p>\n

Coming amid what\u2019s already a big chill in Canberra\u2013Beijing relations, the base brouhaha is a cool wind from the South Pacific. It\u2019s decidedly awkward, causing Canberra to hop around in an alert and alarmed manner.<\/p>\n

Consider the alarum from several angles: the Fairfax reporting, Vanuatu\u2019s response, China\u2019s expanding role in the South Pacific and Australia\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n

Fairfax\u2019s David Wroe kicked the yarn into life by reporting \u2018preliminary discussions\u2019 between Vanuatu and China but \u2018no formal proposals\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wroe is a good journo with a solid track record as Fairfax\u2019s defence and national security correspondent. He\u2019s based in Canberra in the parliamentary press gallery. The sourcing of the story was in Wroe\u2019s third paragraph: \u2018senior security officials believe Beijing\u2019s plans could culminate in a full military base\u2019. By the end of the week, Wroe\u2019s sourcing was more explicit<\/a>: \u2018Top national security figures in Canberra and Washington are deeply concerned about China\u2019s ambitions for Vanuatu and its overtures to the small nation.\u2019<\/p>\n

In reading reactions to Wroe\u2019s report, refer to a line beloved of journos and often attributed to Bismarck: Never believe anything until it\u2019s officially denied<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In that spirit, always note what\u2019s actually denied. Thus, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull\u2019s<\/a> response started with Vanuatu\u2019s assurance to Australia \u2018that no such request has been made\u2019. A Bismarckian reading would be no formal request, but perhaps informal discussions. Turnbull then raised the strategic red flag: \u2018We would view with great concern the establishment of any foreign military bases in those Pacific Island countries and neighbours of ours.\u2019<\/p>\n

The eventual denial statement from Vanuatu\u2019s Prime Minister Charlot Salwai<\/a> said his government \u2018will fiercely oppose any attempt to build a military base in the country\u2019 while stressing close ties to China as a \u2018friend and global leader\u2019.<\/p>\n

Most of the discussion about a China \u2018base\u2019 in Vanuatu focuses on the naval dimension and the future use\/ownership of wharves built by China. Other bits of the Chinese bureaucracy could also be involved.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s ambitions in space mean it would like to have tracking facilities close to the equator. Currently, China has to deploy ships to do space tracking work<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The previous Chinese ground station<\/a> in the South Pacific was in Kiribati in the six years to 2003\u2014it was abruptly closed when diplomatic recognition was switched to Taiwan.<\/p>\n

As China builds its power and prerogatives in the South Pacific, it can reach for permanent facilities to serve those interests.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve come a long way since the previous decade when China\u2019s overriding concern in the South Pacific was the fierce fight with Taiwan for diplomatic recognition<\/a>. That brawl caused China to ramp up representation so it had more diplomats in the South Pacific than any other country<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By the end of the last decade, China and Taiwan had reached a tacit ceasefire in the recognition war. With that de facto truce holding, China has widened its vision, building its role as a key aid giver and business partner, serving the new and expanding Chinese diaspora in the Islands.<\/p>\n

What China has won in the South Pacific is both simple and significant. As with Southeast Asia, China is now a significant player that must be considered and consulted when regional decisions are being made.<\/p>\n

China asserts the same right that it has in East Asia: on strategic, diplomatic or economic questions, China’s interests must be respected. The South Pacific is a relatively cheap place to play. Not much money gets China a lot.<\/p>\n

The way China talks to the Islands is in clear contrast to Australia’s language. Canberra\u2019s emphasis on good governance, economic reform and anti-corruption policies has no counterpart when Beijing comes calling.<\/p>\n

Apart from the issue of Taiwan, China runs a value-free foreign policy. There is no overt ideological struggle between Australia and China because only Canberra is pushing a value system.<\/p>\n

The Islands are starting to confront the reality that China doesn\u2019t argue about principles, but that in offering development loans, it wants the principal repaid. The South Pacific is used to Western aid that might have conditions but comes as a grant\u2014no repayment needed. Not so Beijing. China does loans, not grants. The argument about Chinese influence concerns finance as well as strategic vision.<\/p>\n

The China factor adds a competitive flavour to Australia\u2019s offer to the South Pacific of security and economic integration<\/a>. The integration agenda is a small-steps discussion<\/a> with the Islands that should run for decades. But that dialogue is also about Australia reinforcing its traditional role in the South Pacific in response to growing Chinese influence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The traditional Oz response to external powers sailing into the South Pacific\u2014dating from Malcolm Fraser\u2019s alarm at the arrival of the Soviet Union\u2014is to ramp up the rhetoric and throw more aid at the Islands. The tradition is set to get another run with Vanuatu.<\/p>\n

China, though, challenges Australia to offer more than scares and cash. Canberra needs to offer its vision for the South Pacific community<\/a> and outline what we\u2019ll do to build that community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australia\u2019s reaction to the idea of a China getting \u2018a full military base\u2019 in Vanuatu ranged from aghast to agog. Coming amid what\u2019s already a big chill in Canberra\u2013Beijing relations, the base brouhaha is a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":38551,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[52,285,99],"class_list":["post-38550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-china","tag-foreign-policy","tag-south-pacific"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAwkward alarum: China, Vanuatu and Oz | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/awkward-alarum-china-vanuatu-oz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Awkward alarum: China, Vanuatu and Oz | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Australia\u2019s reaction to the idea of a China getting \u2018a full military base\u2019 in Vanuatu ranged from aghast to agog. 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