Climate, China concern bookend Pacific leaders meeting
Dominic Giannini and Poppy Johnston |
Australia is being urged to put its money where its mouth is on environmental policy and media freedom following a high-level meeting of Pacific island leaders.
The Pacific Islands Forum wrapped up in the Solomon Islands on Friday after four days of meetings attended by representatives of 18 member nations, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Climate change is an existential threat for Pacific island nations and Australia was again warned at the forum about approving major coal and gas projects as Canberra talked up its environmental credentials.
Mr Albanese said Australia will make decisions in its own interests despite calls from Pacific leaders to wind back its reliance on coal and gas.
“They know that you can’t just flick a switch and transform an economy overnight,” Mr Albanese told reporters in Cairns on Friday after returning from Honiara.
There have also been concerns over Chinese policing initiatives in the Solomon Islands after Chinese police officers revealed they took part in a village surveillance pilot program collecting fingerprints and personal data.
It builds on tensions between forum members as the Solomon Islands government blocked all development partners from attending the summit after China pushed for Taiwan’s exclusion.
It’s also against the backdrop of Australia pushing its own regional policing initiative, after repeatedly stating there was no role for China to play in Pacific security.
The Chinese policing pilot program was described in a media release by the Solomons police as the “Fengqiao experience” – a program started under Mao Zedong to crack down on social dissent.
The pilot has raised concerns about the expansion of Chinese influence in the Solomons.
“One of the things that I want in the Pacific is for the Pacific family to look after our own security and that’s why we established the Pacific Policing Initiative that has been very successful,” Mr Albanese told reporters in Sydney.
The head of China investigations at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute Bethany Allen said Beijing exporting policing and governance models was “a way of bringing countries into China’s sphere of influence to increase its legitimacy”.
The pilot also showed there was a real willingness in the Solomon Islands to partner with China in areas like policing.
“Australia and China are competing neck in neck right now,” she told AAP.
The impact of climate change was undoubtedly a major issue at the forum.
Pacific leaders are pushing for a major climate conference to be held in the region, co-hosted with Australia, to elevate the voices of countries most at risk from climate change.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps said all leaders wanted the Australia-Pacific co-bid for the 2026 major Conference of the Parties (COP31) event to be successful, as he called for Turkey to drop its bid.
“We deserve to host COP31, and given the breadth and depth of support, it would be seen as an act of good faith if others would clear the way,” the chair-designate of the 2026 Pacific Islands Forum said.
If neither side backs down, the annual climate meeting will default to Bonn, in Germany, the headquarters of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Mr Albanese is expected to meet with his Turkish counterpart on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.
Australia was also chastised by local Pacific media after Mr Albanese refused to let local journalists attend press conferences.
The Pacific Freedom Forum said it “strongly condemns the unacceptable actions of Australian officials”.
“You cannot claim to be part of the Pacific family while silencing Pacific voices,” chair Robert Iroga said.
AAP
