Chinese envoy lashes 'ignorant' Pacific aid critics

China's ambassador to Samoa labelled critics of Beijing's activities in the Pacific "ignorant" and "prejudiced" Tuesday in the latest testy public missive from the rising Asian superpower's diplomatic corps.

Beijing's growing influence in the Pacific islands was a major theme at a tense regional summit in Tuvalu last week, where Australia tried to reassert leadership in an area it traditionally regards as its sphere of influence.

Instead, Canberra faced criticism over its lack of action on climate change, with leaders such as Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama saying they preferred China's brand of diplomacy to "condescending" Australia.

Ambassador Chao Xiaoliang tried to seize the moment, dismissing Western charges that China's foreign aid programme creates client states as inaccurate "Cold War" thinking.

"Rather than pointing fingers at China's good deeds, those who keep on making groundless accusations and speculations might as well do more themselves to provide help to the Pacific island countries," Chao wrote in the Samoa Observer.

"Some people questioned the purpose of China's aid, even disregarded the facts and fabricated the so-called 'China debt trap' -- this is either of prejudice or ignorant of China's foreign aid policy."

China's aid comes largely in the form of low-interest loans, but critics say it leaves debtor nations beholden to Beijing, eroding their independence.

US Defence Secretary Mark Esper earlier this month accused China of destabilising the region using such tactics, citing "predatory economics and debt-for-sovereignty deals".

Chao's response in the Observer was blunt: "The so-called 'China debt trap' is extremely ridiculous."

"China's foreign aid... comes without interfering in their domestic affairs or attaching any political strings," he wrote.

Australia, the largest aid donor in the Pacific, is wary of China's interest in the region, fearing the long term goal is to establish a military base in the islands.

It launched a charm offensive dubbed the "Pacific Step-up" last year to counter Beijing's influence.

But Chinese diplomats have also been determined to have their voices heard in the region, sometimes pushing their cause aggressively.

Envoys in Australia and New Zealand this month praised pro-Chinese university students for confronting protestors supporting Hong Kong's democracy movement, earning a rebuke from Australia.

And during last November's APEC meeting in Papua New Guinea, police were called in when Chinese officials "tried to barge in" to the-then foreign minister Rimbink Pato's office to have their say on the summit's communique.

A few months earlier at the 2018 Pacific Islands Forum, host nation Nauru demanded an apology after the head of China's delegation walked out because he was not allowed to speak before the island leaders who were holding the summit.

Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Malielegaoi said last week that he was more interested in the practical assistance China could offer than calming Canberra's geo-strategic concerns.

"Their enemies (Australia and its allies) are not our enemies," he said.

Australia's Pacific role challenged in climate row
Wellington (AFP) Aug 19, 2019 - Influential Pacific island leaders have called for Australia to be ousted from the region's main regional grouping, criticising Canberra's "neo-colonial" attitudes and refusal to take urgent action on climate change.

It comes after Australia was accused of muzzling leaders who wanted to use last week's Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu to issue a global call for action on climate change ahead of UN-sponsored talks in New York next month.

Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack then added further insult when he dismissed the islanders' concerns and said they could "come here and pick our fruit" to survive.

Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga labelled McCormack's comments "abusive and offensive", challenging Australia's right to a place in the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum.

"The spirit of the Pacific way is not understood by these guys, I don't think they understand anything about (it)," he told Radio New Zealand.

"And if that's the case, what is the point of these guys remaining in the Pacific Island Leaders' Forum? I don't see any merit in that."

Sopoaga's views echoed those of Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who over the weekend described his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison as "very insulting" and said China offered a more welcoming brand of diplomacy.

Australia has a complex relationship with its Pacific island neighbours, who receive about Aus$1.4 billion ($950 million) a year in aid from Canberra.

Despite the generous handouts, Pacific islanders often bristle at Australian attitudes to a region that officials in Canberra refer to as "our backyard".

- 'Difficult conversations' -

Sopoaga said the Pacific Islands Forum row on climate change reminded him of regional meetings decades ago, when "colonial masters" set the agenda.

"We are still seeing reflections and manifestations of this neo-colonialist approach to what the leaders are talking about," he told RNZ.

Canberra, alarmed at Beijing's diplomatic inroads into the region, last year launched a charm offensive labelled "the Pacific Step-up", aimed at bringing the islands closer and forestalling any chance of a Chinese military base in the region.

But the divisions over climate change exposed at the summit have proved deeper than expected, driving a wedge between Australia and the islands.

Pacific leaders view global warming as an existential threat to low-lying nations requiring immediate action, including a rapid transition away from coal, to save their homes.

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison concedes climate change is real but insists it can be managed in a way that does not hurt the economy, including the lucrative coal industry.

Former Kiribati president Anote Tong, a long-time climate campaigner, said China now appeared a better partner in the Pacific because Australia's priority appeared to be preserving its coal industry, not helping to stop global warming.

"It's really about the lesser of two evils, I guess, and at the moment Australia is coming up as the worst of the two evils," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"There's got to be a more respectful way of understanding each other. It cannot be dictated by the coal industry in the background."

Tong called for Australia to be suspended from the PIF or sanctioned over its climate stance.

Morrison acknowledged there had been "difficult conversations" with Pacific leaders but likened them to a family spat, denying there was any long-term damage to relations.

"Just like any family that comes around the table we discuss all these things through... we've always been there. We will always be there," he told reporters over the weekend.

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Tears and shouting as Australia dilutes Pacific climate warning
Wellington (AFP) Aug 16, 2019
A Pacific summit has descended into tears, recriminations and shouting between pro-coal Australia and low-lying island nations facing an existential threat from climate change. The annual Pacific Island Forum wrapped up in Tuvalu late Thursday with Australia and the group's 17 other members sharply at odds, potentially undermining Canberra's efforts to curb China's growing influence in the region. "There were serious arguments and even shouting, crying, people, leaders were shedding tears," Tuva ... read more