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Fiji rejects idea of Chinese military bases in Pacific islands
‘If they want to come, who would welcome them?’ Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said on Wednesday. ‘Not Fiji’
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Fiji is opposed to China setting up a military base in the Pacific islands, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said on Wednesday, adding that Beijing did not need such a base to project power, as shown by last year’s intercontinental ballistic missile test.
Strategically placed between the United States and Asia, the Pacific islands are a focus of rivalry between Washington and Beijing for security ties.
The islands were trying to cope with a big, powerful China seeking to spread its influence, Rabuka told the National Press Club in the Australian capital, adding that Beijing understood he would lobby other Pacific leaders against such a base.
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“Pacific leaders in all their recent discussions have tried to go for policies that are friendly to all and enemies to none – and it is a fairly tough course to steer, but it is possible,” he said.
The Pacific would feel the impact of any conflict over the Taiwan Strait between major powers, a possibility already being planned for by China and other nations, Rabuka said.
Fiji opposes establishment of a military base by China, he said, in response to queries on Beijing’s security ambitions in a region where it already has a security pact with Solomon Islands and a police presence in several nations.
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