ALEXANDRE DAYANT, MEG KEEN, ROLAND RAJAH
Chinese engagement in the Pacific regularly hit the headlines in 2022, sometimes with dire warnings. The recent China–Solomon Islands security agreement sent shock waves across the region. Concern reached new highs when China provided replica assault weapons and police training. This came on top of military assistance to Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Tonga that included “combat-oriented” equipment. In Solomons, Australia quickly responded by moving forward its own arms provision. On the aid front, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi’s recent tour de force led to the signing of multiple bilateral agreements with almost a dozen Pacific Island nations.
Chinese aid to the Pacific: decreasing, but not disappearing | Lowy Institute
