{"id":42222,"date":"2018-09-24T06:00:11","date_gmt":"2018-09-23T20:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=42222"},"modified":"2018-09-22T11:20:10","modified_gmt":"2018-09-22T01:20:10","slug":"climate-and-cash-rule-a-crowded-pacific-islands-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/climate-and-cash-rule-a-crowded-pacific-islands-forum\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate and cash rule a crowded Pacific Islands Forum"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The South Pacific lives in interesting times\u2014a \u2018crowded and complex region\u2019 is the phrase of the moment\u2014and the times made for an interesting Pacific Islands Forum<\/a> meeting earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Climate change roils. China pushes<\/a>. Australia emphasises security. And the 18 forum members decided on a new cash formula to pay for their secretariat: Papua New Guinea showed ambition, Fiji doubled up and France stepped up.<\/p>\n

The island leaders wrangled with Australia about climate, which was the starting point for the Nauru summit\u2019s security declaration.<\/p>\n

The islands listen to Australia on security, as they should; but that merely launches the discussion. To have its security perspective accepted by the islands\u2014if not adopted\u2014Canberra needs to mix sincerity and some sensitivity with security smarts.<\/p>\n

The smarts thought is a reminder of the childhood lolly lesson\u2014Smarties come in many colours, just as security has a range of hues. The leaders wore the same colour shirt for the team photo, but the Smarties rule usually rules: different colours, different preferences. The forum declaration<\/a> spoke of the many shades and tones in play, describing \u2018an increasingly crowded and complex region\u2019.<\/p>\n

Echoing the declaration, Australia\u2019s new foreign minister, Marise Payne, dryly observed that it\u2019s a \u2018strategically crowded<\/a> Southwest Pacific\u2019, naming the external powers now crowding in as India, China, Japan, Indonesia and Russia.<\/p>\n

In a tougher, rougher game, Australia proclaims its traditional aim to be what Senator Payne calls the \u2018partner of choice\u2019 on regional security matters, from law enforcement and the protection of rights under international law to crisis response.<\/p>\n

The cut-through message to the islands is: take China\u2019s cash with caution, remember the value of Canberra\u2019s commitment.<\/p>\n

Senator Payne pointed to the hierarchy of importance in Australia\u2019s foreign policy white paper: \u2018a resilient Pacific was clearly described as one of five fundamental policy priority objectives for Australia\u2019. In the contest with China over interests and influence, Australia is arguing that it rates the South Pacific as a fundamental priority in a way that China never will.<\/p>\n

As always in the South Pacific, the problem for Canberra is to maintain focus and live up to the fine words. See how that played out in the new security statement from the forum, the Boe declaration<\/a>, in the first two points of the statement:<\/p>\n

(i) We\u00a0reaffirm\u00a0that climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific and our commitment to progress the implementation of the Paris Agreement;<\/p>\n

(ii) We\u00a0recognise\u00a0an increasingly complex regional security environment driven by multifaceted security challenges, and a dynamic geopolitical environment leading to an increasingly crowded and complex region;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Australian climate denialists blithely urge an Oz desertion of the Paris Agreement on the basis that Donald Trump did it and so should we.<\/p>\n

The denialists\/skeptics need to note that for Australia, this would affect neighbourhood status as well as international standing. That first point of the Boe declaration on climate change\u2014 \u2018the single greatest threat\u2019\u2014is a South Pacific position that Australia has signed up to, however reluctantly.<\/p>\n

In the wrangling over the language on climate change, some Pacific nations privately accused Australia of trying to water down the final declaration<\/a>. Senator Payne said she had \u2018robust and frank discussions<\/a>\u2019 with her colleagues.<\/p>\n

Making climate the first point of the security declaration was an expression of island fears and lived experience, not simply a poke at Australia. Just as the second point about the crowded and complex region describes a shared reality; it\u2019s not just Australia expressing alarm.<\/p>\n

\u2018Security\u2019 can be rendered in rainbow hues, and the declaration offered an expanded concept:<\/p>\n