{"id":72083,"date":"2022-04-21T12:40:55","date_gmt":"2022-04-21T02:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=72083"},"modified":"2022-04-22T11:59:31","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T01:59:31","slug":"australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia and its partners must bring the Pacific into the fold on Chinese interference"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

In Solomon Islands and the Torres Strait and in every other state and territory of the Pacific, China\u2019s government is sponsoring political interference activities that undermine democracy and weaken already fragile political systems. The Solomons\u2019 signing of a security agreement with Beijing is the most public recent example.<\/p>\n

A concerted response<\/a> by Western democracies to deal with the challenges of the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s increased grey-zone activities is underway, both in targeted Pacific nations and via external joint efforts. But, so far, local governments and civil society don\u2019t appear to have been invited to join some of the most pertinent discussions on what to do about it.<\/p>\n

In September 2018<\/a>, the members of the Five Eyes intelligence-gathering network (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US) established a counter-foreign-interference group with France, Germany, Japan and other like-minded countries\u2014essentially an informal expansion of Five Eyes, centred on foreign interference. The actions of China and, for some states, Russia are the main focus. In 2019, the Pacific Islands Forum states signed the Boe Declaration<\/a>, which expanded the forum\u2019s concept of security and highlighted foreign interference as a specific concern.<\/p>\n

Identifying and countering foreign interference requires an internal, classified assessment by government agencies and a factual, public conversation on the activities and tactics involved. Yet Pacific island nations often lack the capacity<\/a> to address these challenges. In some, notably Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, CCP political interference may have so weakened democracy that there appears to be next to no political will to examine China\u2019s interference activities.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s broad approach to political interference makes extensive use of assets, disinformation, \u2018useful idiots\u2019 and proxies. Carried out by the united front system, a grouping of Chinese party and state agencies<\/a>, the CCP\u2019s official catch-all term for those activities is \u2018united front work\u2019. Such interference and influence work, however, is not limited<\/a> to the united front; it can also involve<\/a> entities from China\u2019s propaganda, trade, foreign affairs and intelligence agencies. The CCP\u2019s broad approach to espionage and foreign interference makes traditional counterintelligence difficult.<\/p>\n

Targeting subnational entities<\/a> is an effective way for the CCP to pursue foreign policy and military agendas that would be more readily thwarted at the national level, so united front work is often directed at local government and local authorities. The CCP calls this \u2018using the local to surround the central; using the countryside to surround the cities\u2019 (nongcun baowei chengshi<\/em>; difang baowei zhongyang<\/em>).<\/p>\n

As a covert tool, the united front\u2019s purpose and tactics are highly secret. Yet, because it requires coalition-building, many of its activities are quite visible and frequently involve public events where foreign economic and political elites endorse the CCP\u2019s policies and agenda.<\/p>\n

United front work is designed to corrode and corrupt democratic political systems, to weaken communities and divide them against each other, and to erode the critical voice of the media. It turns elites into clients of the CCP through financial and other inducements. It\u2019s also used to develop asset relationships, to access sensitive technology and to promote the CCP\u2019s foreign policy agenda.<\/p>\n

The Chinese People\u2019s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (commonly known as the Friendship Association, or Youxie) manages subnational relationships and coordinates friendship associations and relations with pro-China elites in almost every country and territory. Even tiny Niue, population 1,644, has a China friendship association, with 15 members<\/a>. It\u2019s headed by a former premier and the secretary-general is Niue\u2019s sole Chinese resident.<\/p>\n

The Friendship Association is a hybrid party\u2013state organisation with three \u2018mothers-in-law\u2019<\/a> (to use the argot of the CCP system): the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the CCP united front organisation, the Chinese People\u2019s Political Consultative Conference; and the CCP\u2019s International Liaison Department, which the party uses to conduct foreign policy discussions with foreign political parties.<\/p>\n

The Friendship Association manages relations with countries that recognise Taiwan and encourages them to switch recognition. China currently has diplomatic relations with 12 of the 16 states in the Pacific Islands Forum. Only Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau and Tuvalu retain diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and together they make up almost a third of its diplomatic partners. In August 2019, the Friendship Association hosted a delegation<\/a> of Solomon Islands ministers and backbenchers to China, just weeks before the government suddenly switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing.<\/p>\n

\u2018Friendship<\/a>\u2019 (youyi<\/em>), \u2018friendship relations\u2019 (youhao guanxi<\/em>) and \u2018old friends of China\u2019 (Zhongguo renmin de lao pengyou<\/em>) are all CCP political terms. The terminology and approach come from the Soviet Union, which had a major influence on the CCP\u2019s foreign affairs system.<\/p>\n

The Pacific China Friendship Association<\/a> connects 15 pro-China friendship associations in Pacific nations and territories. Some have only one or two members, but the organisation has high-level connections in China, and throughout the Pacific. Tonga\u2019s Princess Royal Salote Mafile\u2019o Pilolevu Tuita, the chair and 60% owner of satellite communications company Tongasat, is its patron. Tongasat controls six equatorial satellite slots and a single satellite. Several Chinese government corporations, and one linked to the Chinese military, use Tongasat slots.<\/p>\n

The Pacific China Friendship Association\u2019s founding president is Hiria Ottino, a China adviser to successive French Polynesian presidents. Anthony Leong is the association\u2019s secretary-general while also leading the Australian association.<\/p>\n

United front work is \u2018all domain\u2019 and involves a whole range of non-governmental groups from businesses to cultural groups in pursuit of CCP goals. So it\u2019s essential to bring civil society, think tanks<\/a>, academia and NGOs into the conversation about CCP political interference and grey-zone activities, to inform these sectors and to allow conversations to be held beyond the limitations of governmental bodies. An informed society is a resilient society.<\/p>\n

Bringing the Pacific into the foreign interference conversation will be a visible demonstration that the US, and other partners in the Pacific, really are seeking to strengthen the region<\/a>, and that their recent actions and policies are not a return to the exploitative patterns of the past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Solomon Islands and the Torres Strait and in every other state and territory of the Pacific, China\u2019s government is sponsoring political interference activities that undermine democracy and weaken already fragile political systems. The Solomons\u2019 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1541,"featured_media":72090,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1383,52,2595,2160,228,2775],"class_list":["post-72083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-ccp","tag-china","tag-foreign-interference","tag-pacific-islands","tag-solomon-islands","tag-united-front"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAustralia and its partners must bring the Pacific into the fold on Chinese interference | 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\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Australia and its partners must bring the Pacific into the fold on Chinese interference | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Solomon Islands and the Torres Strait and in every other state and territory of the Pacific, China\u2019s government is sponsoring political interference activities that undermine democracy and weaken already fragile political systems. The Solomons\u2019 ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-21T02:40:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-22T01:59:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1184518913.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne-Marie Brady\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne-Marie Brady\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1184518913.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1184518913.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"caption\":\"HONIARA, GUADALCANAL ISLAND, SOLOMON ISLANDS - NOVEMBER 25: A view of Parliament House during day three of the royal visit to the Solomon Islands on November 25, 2019 in Honiara, Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands. The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall just finished a tour of New Zealand. It was their third joint visit to New Zealand and first in four years. The Prince is currently on a solo three day tour of The Solomon Islands. (Photo by Victoria Jones - Pool\/Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/\",\"name\":\"Australia and its partners must bring the Pacific into the fold on Chinese interference | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-21T02:40:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-22T01:59:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ea3de2f46230df5c70e5ba93634020ae\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Australia and its partners must bring the Pacific into the fold on Chinese interference\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ea3de2f46230df5c70e5ba93634020ae\",\"name\":\"Anne-Marie Brady\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c82baac8eed4e12c726ff0aa9c155561?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c82baac8eed4e12c726ff0aa9c155561?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Anne-Marie Brady\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/anne-marie-brady\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Australia and its partners must bring the Pacific into the fold on Chinese interference | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Australia and its partners must bring the Pacific into the fold on Chinese interference | The Strategist","og_description":"In Solomon Islands and the Torres Strait and in every other state and territory of the Pacific, China\u2019s government is sponsoring political interference activities that undermine democracy and weaken already fragile political systems. The Solomons\u2019 ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2022-04-21T02:40:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-04-22T01:59:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1184518913.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Anne-Marie Brady","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anne-Marie Brady","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1184518913.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1184518913.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"caption":"HONIARA, GUADALCANAL ISLAND, SOLOMON ISLANDS - NOVEMBER 25: A view of Parliament House during day three of the royal visit to the Solomon Islands on November 25, 2019 in Honiara, Guadalcanal Island, Solomon Islands. The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall just finished a tour of New Zealand. It was their third joint visit to New Zealand and first in four years. The Prince is currently on a solo three day tour of The Solomon Islands. (Photo by Victoria Jones - Pool\/Getty Images)"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/","name":"Australia and its partners must bring the Pacific into the fold on Chinese interference | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2022-04-21T02:40:55+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-22T01:59:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ea3de2f46230df5c70e5ba93634020ae"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-and-its-partners-must-bring-the-pacific-into-the-fold-on-chinese-interference\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Australia and its partners must bring the Pacific into the fold on Chinese interference"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/ea3de2f46230df5c70e5ba93634020ae","name":"Anne-Marie Brady","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c82baac8eed4e12c726ff0aa9c155561?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c82baac8eed4e12c726ff0aa9c155561?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Anne-Marie Brady"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/anne-marie-brady\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72083"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1541"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72083"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72127,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72083\/revisions\/72127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}