Anyone who doubts Australia and China are in what Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong called a “permanent contest” in the Pacific needs to think again.
in the Pacific need only go for a drive in the capital of the Solomon Islands. Alongside the undisguised poverty, throngs of underemployed youth and potholed roads in Honiara are a proliferation of competing billboards and plaques boasting of efforts to alleviate such problems.
A billboard showing Chinese President Xi Jinping with PNG PM Peter O’Neill in Port Moresby ahead of an APEC meet.Beijing, by contrast, has been good at building flashy, visible projects since the Solomons switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan in 2019, such as the stadium for last year’s Pacific Games.
China is not standing still. Since elections in the Solomons earlier this year, Beijing has been taking huge numbers of the country’s public servants to China for study tours. In some cases, nearly entire departments have gone. In Honiara, a new Chinese-built hospital is rapidly taking shape, its pagoda-style roof ensuring no one will forget where it’s from.
This is another way of saying the “permanent contest” with China isn’t going away and the sharp-elbowed jostling will continue for years.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Australia and China are arm-wrestling to be ‘nambawan’Anyone who doubts Australia and China are in what Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong called a “permanent contest” in the Pacific needs to think again.
Read more »
Australia and China are arm-wrestling to be ‘nambawan’Anyone who doubts Australia and China are in what Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong called a “permanent contest” in the Pacific needs to think again.
Read more »
Australia news live: ‘stronger Quad means stronger Australia’ Albanese says after meeting with summit leadersFollow today’s news live
Read more »
Australia’s northern neighbours cautious over US military build-up in Northern AustraliaAs US military presence ramps up in the north, experts say one of Australia's closest Asian neighbours is growing wary that the US's expanded presence could bring rising tensions to the region.
Read more »
South Australia council reverses decision to change date of Australia Day eventsIt comes after the council changed the date this year without community consultation.
Read more »
What’s causing China’s economic downturn and what does it mean for Australia?Oversupply and deflation are spooking markets, while falling demand for coal and iron ore threatens to further hamper anaemic Australian growth
Read more »