China tells US politely and frankly:
‘We want to go it alone in South Pacific’
Without combined effort in terms of aid, investment:
US: China has told the United States it will go its own way with its
growing aid and investment in the South Pacific and does not support
combined efforts, a senior US official said Tuesday.
At a 16-nation Pacific island summit this month in New Zealand,
Chinese officials explained they were “not particularly interested in
sharing” fruits of their engagement, said Kurt Campbell, the US
assistant secretary of state for East Asia.
“Our Chinese friends politely said, frankly, we will do our own
investment and we will do our own quid pro quo on a bilateral context,”
Campbell told a conference hosted by The Washington Post and advisory
firm Oxford Analytica.
China in the past decade has ramped up aid and investment in the
developing world, generally with few political strings attached, as the
Asian power seeks to secure natural resources to fuel its rapidly
growing economy.
A study released in April by Australia’s Lowy Institute for
International Policy found that China has pledged $600 million to the
Pacific since 2005 and warned that the islands may soon face heavy debt
burdens. But Campbell said that China’s leadership overall has pursued
only limited strategic ambitions despite the growing number of
international relationships.
“I think what’s interesting if you look at the situation globally is
how generally underdeveloped the political and strategic rationale is
for many of their activities,” he said.
China has historically battled rival Taiwan for recognition around
the world, but the diplomatic war has eased since Beijing-friendly
President Ma Ying-jeou took office in Taipei in 2008.
Instead, China has turned to its international relationships on only
a few issues where it hopes to avoid isolation such as climate change
and the value of its currency, Campbell said. AFP
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