China Unites 8 Central Pacific Island Nations to Counter the United States

Foreign Minister Wang Hosts First Meeting of Foreign Ministers from Fiji and 7 Other Island Nations
Joint Statement Calls for Halt to AUKUS and Fukushima Contaminated Water Discharge

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] China has united Pacific island countries to counter the United States. It also decided to cooperate with Pacific island countries to prevent Japan's radioactive contaminated water from being discharged into the ocean.

According to Chinese media including People's Daily on the 22nd, Wang Yi, China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister in charge of diplomacy, held the "1st China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers' Meeting" via video conference the day before and agreed to strengthen maritime cooperation.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The meeting was attended by foreign ministers from eight Pacific island countries: Kiribati, Fiji, Tonga, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Micronesia, and Solomon Islands.

At the meeting, Foreign Minister Wang stated, "To build a Blue Pacific, we will establish a climate change cooperation center with relevant countries and support environmental programs in the Pacific region."

He added, "AUKUS (the security partnership between the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia) threatens the South Pacific Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone and will lead to an arms race among regional countries," emphasizing that China will cooperate with Pacific island countries for regional peace and stability.

To this end, Wang proposed holding regular meetings of foreign ministers between China and Pacific island countries.

After the meeting, China and the eight Pacific island countries adopted and announced a joint statement. The participating countries emphasized in the joint statement that the issue of discharging radioactive contaminated water into the sea should be handled cautiously and that sufficient consultations with stakeholders and relevant international organizations are necessary. Although the words "Japan" and "Fukushima" were not included in the joint statement, it is interpreted as expressing opposition to the Japanese government's decision to discharge Fukushima contaminated water into the ocean.

The joint statement also included a position to uphold the South Pacific Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone based on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Although it did not explicitly mention "United States," "Australia," or "AUKUS," it clearly reflects China's discomfort with Australia's support for nuclear-powered submarine construction technology.

The joint statement further contained contents such as equality among all countries, mutual understanding and support of core interests, the principle of non-interference in internal affairs in international relations, cooperation and support regarding the COVID-19 virus, expansion of exchanges in various fields including education, culture, and sports (Beijing Winter Olympics), climate change cooperation, and the practice of multilateralism in international relations.

Wei Lei, senior researcher at the Island Countries Research Center of Yantai University, Shandong Province, said, "The scope and depth of cooperation between China and Pacific island countries continue to expand," adding, "This meeting signifies that the relationship between China and Pacific island countries has been elevated from trade to diplomacy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.