4 Pacific Islands leaders meet amid political crisis, seek peace and neutrality
- Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji and New Caledonia’s ruling FLNKS party are meeting to consider declaring a ‘region of peace and neutrality’
- The nations are at the centre of a geopolitical contest that includes the Solomon Islands’ security pact with China and a PNG defence deal with the US
Four Pacific Islands leaders arrived in Vanuatu to consider declaring a “neutral” position amid an intense contest between the United States and China, against the backdrop of a political crisis in the host nation.
The leaders of Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji and New Caledonia’s ruling FLNKS party, members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), will meet for two days from tomorrow at the National Convention Centre, officials said.
Vanuatu Deputy Prime Minister Matai Seremaiah, speaking after a meeting of foreign ministers yesterday, said the leaders would consider declaring a “region of peace and neutrality”.
The five nations, strategically located in the South Pacific and pivotal during World War Two, are again at the centre of a geopolitical contest: Solomon Islands has a security pact with China, Papua New Guinea signed a defence cooperation deal with the United States, while Fiji last week co-hosted an Indo-Pacific defence chiefs conference with the US, which China attended.
Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Ishamel Kalsakau has faced a political backlash for signing a security deal with Australia, after some lawmakers feared it could upset China, a major infrastructure lender.
Kalsakau narrowly survived a no-confidence motion in parliament last week, but his government has lost a working majority.
