Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to strengthen ties with Fiji in a world plagued by “turmoil” as he met with the Pacific island’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka in Beijing on Tuesday.
China has stepped up its advertising campaign against the South Pacific states in recent years, raising concerns among Western powers that have historically dominated the region, particularly the United States and Australia.
Rabuka met Xi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing after travelling across China for over a week.
“(Our) two countries have always supported and helped each other as good friends and good partners, and have become a model of equality and friendly cooperation between big and small countries,” Xi told Rabuka.
He said Beijing was keen to “promote the building of a China-Fiji community with a shared future in a world of turmoil and chaos, and bring more benefits to our people.”
Xi also praised Fiji’s recent sporting achievements in rugby, for which the country won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics last month.
Rabuka thanked the Chinese leader and told Xi: “Fiji is ready to send rugby coaches and players to China to play with Chinese teams.”
He also praised Xi’s meeting with US President Joe Biden in San Francisco last year, saying that “you may have achieved peace for the world.”
Rabuka takes a more cautious stance on China’s growing security interests in the Pacific. He praises Fiji’s improving relations with Beijing, but says he prefers to negotiate with democratic “traditional friends” on security issues.
According to statements from both governments, Fiji and China signed a series of bilateral agreements on trade, military aid, infrastructure and Chinese language teaching during Rabuka’s trip.
According to a Chinese government statement, Premier Li Qiang promised to boost imports from Fiji and encourage Chinese investment there during a meeting with Rabuka on Sunday.
During a trip to the city of Ningde in eastern China’s Fujian province, Rabuka also praised Beijing’s “tailored, innovative poverty alleviation strategies.”
The Fijian prime minister last met Xi last year at an Asia-Pacific economic summit in San Francisco, where the Chinese leader promised to help Fiji safeguard its “security and sovereignty.”
Rabuka said after these talks that China could help develop Fiji’s ports and shipyards, and praised Beijing’s previous assistance to his country in the fight against Covid-19, in the development of agriculture and in the expansion of infrastructure.
China alarmed Western countries when it signed a secret defense pact with the Solomon Islands last year, raising fears that it might station military troops there.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele visited China in June and the Pacific nation later announced that Beijing would increase its budget by $20 million.
