China is intensifying its efforts to expand its influence in the Pacific and stymie a $500 million treaty deal between Australia and Vanuatu as the Albanese government forges ahead with plans to sign a sweeping security pact with Fiji.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Pacific Minister Pat Conroy travelled to Fiji on Tuesday to drive forward negotiations on the Vuvale Union, a treaty-level agreement that would deepen ties between Australia and one of the Pacific’s most powerful countries.
The progress on a new treaty with Fiji stands in stark contrast to efforts to achieve a breakthrough on a stalled pact with Vanuatu, a nation that is a key geopolitical battleground between Australia and China in the Pacific.
China has been accused of paying bribes to corrupt politicians as a diplomatic tool in the Pacific, raising fears that illicit payments could be undermining Australia’s interests in the region.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hoped to sign a treaty agreement with Vanuatu during a visit last September, but the deal was scuppered at the last minute and remains unsigned eight months later.
Hopes to resuscitate the deal were dealt a blow by recent reports that Vanuatu was on the cusp of striking a similar deal with China.
Vanuatuan newspaper The Daily Post last month quoted an unnamed senior Australian official saying: “We are aware of reports Vanuatu might soon sign a security deal with China. Obviously, this could affect agreements with Australia, especially on visas that we know Prime Minister Napat has been advocating for.”
Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Jotham Napat angrily denied the reports, saying the proposed Vanuatu-China pact was focused on economic co-operation and not about security.
But, in a veiled swipe at Australia, he warned that his nation’s diplomatic relations were “not exclusive”.
“Vanuatu will decide what is good for Vanuatu. We will not be dictated to,” he said.
Napat said last year the key sticking point with the proposed 10-year pact with Australia, known as the Nakamal Agreement, was that it could restrict Vanuatu’s ability to receive overseas funding for critical infrastructure projects such as ports and airports.
Beijing funded a new presidential palace for Vanuatu last year and welcomed the Melanesian nation’s “active participation” in its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, raising concerns in Canberra about deepening ties with China.
The Trump administration in February accused the president of Palau’s Senate, Hokkons Baules, of taking bribes to advance China’s interests, accusations Baules denied.
David Panuelo, the outgoing president of the Federated States of Micronesia, accused China of bribing elected officials in Micronesia in 2023, following accusations China had paid Solomon Islands politicians to switch diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing.
Lowy Institute research director Mihai Sora said that while much of the world’s attention was focused on the war in Iran, China remained focused on expanding its clout in the Pacific.
He said Beijing appeared to be pursuing a “form of diplomatic intellectual property theft” with its proposed Namele Agreement with Vanuatu, noting the similarity of its name to Australia’s proposed Nakamal Agreement.
Describing the Australia-Vanuatu deal as “stuck”, Sora said Chinese officials had lobbied hard to block the agreement and achieved success with some leading politicians in Vanuatu.
“This is all part of the diplomatic knife fight in the Pacific that Australian officials speak of,” said Sora, an expert in Pacific affairs.
“Vanuatu would like to sign agreements with both China and Australia, and that puts Australia in an uncomfortable position.”
By contrast, he said Australia was “pushing on an open door” with Fiji, which has locked in with Australia as its security partner of choice.
Sora said he expected a security agreement with Fiji to include a clause committing the nations to consult each other if a conflict breaks out in the region, similar to the treaty alliance struck last year between Australia and Papua New Guinea.
A statement announcing Wong and Conroy’s trip to Fiji said the Vuvale Union “will be a transformative agreement to strengthen strategic, economic and institutional cooperation between Fiji and Australia”.
“By deepening our partnership with Fiji, we are investing in a more secure, stable and resilient region,” Wong said.
“Strengthening our ties with Fiji is a key part of Australia’s broader commitment to the Pacific, grounded in listening, partnership and long-term collaboration.”
The government is proud of its efforts to compete with China in the Pacific, including by striking the new alliance with Papua New Guinea and security pacts with Tuvalu and Nauru.
The government is also trying to strike a separate security deal with Tonga, known as the Kaume’a Ofi agreement.
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Matthew Knott is the foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X, Facebook or email.