Beijing looks to Pacific for support over South China Sea

Transcript

With an international arbitration ruling expected within weeks, China has been embarking on a diplomatic and publicity blitz over its disputed claims to the South China Sea, including attempts to rally Pacific nations.

That campaign has had mixed results: Vanuatu has declared its full support for Beijing's controversial stance, while Fiji has quickly sought to distance itself.

Jamie Tahana reports.

Last week, Vanuatu's Prime Minister, Charlot Salwai, said his country recognised China's territorial claim to a significant portion of the South China Sea. The founder of DevPacific and a Port Vila-based commentator on Pacific affairs, Tess Newton Cain, says Vanuatu's endorsement doesn't come as much of a surprise.

TESS NEWTON CAIN: "On a global scale there's possibly some surprise that Vanuatu has anything to say at all, but I think in terms of having been asked to offer this message of support, it's had a very strong relationship with China, it's been very much adherent to the 'One China' policy, save for a slight wrinkle a few years ago. It's not surprising that Vanuatu would agree to do so."

China claims most of the resource-rich sea -- one of the world's busiest trade routes -- as its own, and has recently raised the stakes by militarising disputed islands. This has angered many neighbouring countries and the United States, which has stepped up naval patrols of the area, and the Philippines is challenging Beijing's claim at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. A professor of strategic studies at New Zealand's Victoria University, Robert Ayson, says in coming weeks the court is expected to rule in the Philippines' favour, and Beijing has already said it won't recognise the ruling. But nevertheless, China has been undertaking a diplomatic and public relations campaign to rally support for its position.

ROBERT AYSON: "So China's already expecting it'll be found against, and they're trying to build a group of countries that will be sympathetic to its position. China is seeking to get whatever support it can from wherever it is. It doesn't have to be a strong country, it doesn't have to a country with large armed forces or a large economy, it just has to be a country -- a sovereign state -- that will say we are sympathetic to China's position."   

In its campaign, China has focused mostly on small nations that depend on Chinese trade or aid, like the countries of the South Pacific, but this has been met with limited success. Last month, Chinese media reported that Fiji had declared its support for China's position. However, Fiji's Information Ministry was quick to respond, saying it has a strict policy of non-alignment. Tess Newton Cain says Chinese representatives have been in Port Vila trying to rally Vanuatu's support for a while.

TESS NEWTON CAIN: "The ambassador has been raising it with members of the Salwai government. I don't know to what extent -- you know, if there was a specific request or whether it was a suggestion -- but certainly it's something the Chinese embassy has been seeking to keep on the agenda."

Papua New Guinea's foreign minister, Rimbink Pato, says diplomatic overtures have been made to his country too, but his position is clear:

RIMBINK PATO: "Clearly, the People's Republic of China is a close friend of PNG, so is Japan, and so is the Philippines. So our position is that, look, these matters that should be resolved in accordance with international law, and the conventions exist for resolutions of those disputes, and we will respect any decision."

Robert Ayson says it is unlikely many other countries will rush to take sides as Vanuatu has, and they are likely to continue to embrace China, the United States, and other Asian nations for the foreseeable future.