China is making fresh efforts to drum up support for Pacific island nations, a new report has found, after marking a “revival” of state-backed aid and infrastructure funding.
Over the past decade, China has lavished billions of dollars on Pacific island nations as part of its ongoing efforts to compete with the United States and its allies and build influence.
Australia's Lowy Institute said in a new study that China's aid has increased in recent years, even though it cut aid to the Pacific in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Beijing has emerged from the pandemic-induced stagnation with a more competitive and politically targeted model of aid engagement,” the think tank said in its Pacific Aid Annual Report on Wednesday.
“China's increased spending, accompanied by a resurgence of Chinese commitment to new projects, signals a resurgence of China's ambitions to engage in major infrastructure work in the Pacific.”
Australia, traditionally the partner of choice for Pacific nations, remains the largest donor.
But according to authors Alexandre Dayan and Riley Duke, U.S. funding now trails that of China, the region's second-largest bilateral donor.
In 2022, the most recent year for which we have complete data, China spent US$256 million. This is an increase of nearly 14% from three years ago.
Australia spent $1.5 billion and the United States $249 million, both numbers down from sharp increases the previous year.
The report found that there have been notable changes in the way China engages across the region. Instead of spreading cash in a broad approach, Beijing has increasingly zeroed in on a handful of friendly countries in the Pacific.
The Solomon Islands and Kiribati were selected for school renovations, new roads and government vehicles after severing diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 2019.
Papua New Guinea, which signed a security agreement with the United States in 2023, has seen a decrease in development funds from China.
