Overview

• Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka told the Australian National Press Club he would oppose any Chinese military base in Fiji or the Pacific and said Beijing does not need one to project power.
• Rabuka cited last year’s Chinese intercontinental ballistic missile test over Fiji as evidence that China can assert military reach without regional installations.
• He is rallying Pacific leaders to back an ‘Ocean of Peace’ treaty at the forum in September to codify island neutrality and reject coercion.
• China already holds a security pact with the Solomon Islands, deploys police missions across the region and has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Pacific infrastructure.
• Rabuka warned that any conflict over the Taiwan Strait between major powers would directly affect Pacific security and sovereignty.