Australia’s bid to block China from gaining a security foothold in the Pacific through ports, airports and other sensitive critical infrastructure assets has been dealt a blow, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was forced to scrap plans to sign a sweeping $500 million treaty-level agreement with Vanuatu.
Albanese hoped to kickstart a major fortnight of diplomacy in the Pacific by finalising a long-awaited deal with his Vanuatu counterpart during a visit to the capital of Port Vila today, but political jostling in Vanuatu meant the 10-year agreement was put back on ice at the last minute.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Vanuatu counterpart Jotham Napat in Port Vila on Tuesday.Credit: Michael Read
Vanuatuan Prime Minister Jotham Napat said the key sticking point was that the pact, known as the Nakamal Agreement, could overly restrict Vanuatu’s ability to receive funding from other nations for critical infrastructure projects.
“Some of my ministers and my MPs feel it requires more discussion, particularly on some of the specific wordings in the agreement,” Napat said during a joint press conference.
Beijing last year funded a new presidential palace for Vanuatu and welcomed the Melanesian nation’s “active participation” in its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, raising concerns in Canberra about deepening ties with China.
The setback is a blow for the Albanese government following its success at negotiating treaty-level agreements with Tuvalu and Nauru, which grant Australia defacto veto rights over any security and military agreements with countries including China.
Albanese said he and Napat “made good progress” during their meeting and would keep working towards striking an agreement.
“Both sides will go through our processes, but we’re very confident that the agreement can be reached, and I’m reassured by the discussion I’ve had with the prime minister,” Albanese said.