The Rise of China in the Pacific Islands: Strategic Threat or Economic Opportunity?
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China's growing influence in the South Pacific is raising an increasing number of sensitive questions about the region's development and its role in regional geopolitics.
China is the third largest aid donor, second largest trading partner and an increasingly significant investor in the Pacific Islands region. As China enters a new phase in domestic and global politics, it is more assertive in its foreign policy and more interested in demonstrating its military might. Expatriate Chinese businesspeople are exercising more influence over foreign polities, including Australia and New Zealand. The values of the Chinese state are at odds with those of traditional powers in the Pacific – Australia, France, New Zealand, the United States and Japan – presenting a challenge to the continuing dominant influence of these powers. Does China present a strategic threat to the Pacific Islands and the future influence of Australia and France? Can China’s aid, trade and investment provide the economic development so badly needed in the Pacific Islands?
Jenny Hayward-Jones, Non-Resident Fellow, Lowy Institute for International Policy
Discussant: Christian Lechervy, Ambassadeur Secrétaire permanent pour le Pacifique
Chair: Françoise Nicolas, Director, Center for Asian Studies, Ifri
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