Australia pushes Pacific police force to check China’s regional ambitions

The policing initiative comes amid concerns over China’s expanding police presence in Pacific island nations, particularly Solomon Islands

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Solomons Islands police receive training from Chinese liaison officers in 2022. Photo: Royal Solomon Islands Police Force/Handout via AFP

Published: 9:17am, 28 Aug 2024Updated: 2:07pm, 28 Aug 2024

Pacific island leaders endorsed a landmark regional policing plan on Wednesday at a summit in Tonga, a contentious move seen as trying to limit China’s security role in the region.

Leaders unveiled a plan to create up to four regional police training centres and a multinational crisis reaction force, backed by US$271 million in initial funding from Australia.

Under the plan, a corps of about 200 officers drawn from different Pacific island nations could be dispatched to regional hotspots and disaster zones when needed and invited.

“This demonstrates how Pacific leaders are working together to shape the future that we want to see,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, hailing the agreement.

The Australian leader made the announcement while flanked by leaders of Fiji, Palau, Papua New Guinea and Tonga – a symbolic show of unity in a region riven by competition between China and the United States.

Papua New Guinea police on parade in Port Moresby before 2018’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the city. Photo: AFP

Tongan Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni, the summit host, said the initiative would plug regional security gaps and tackle emerging threats like organised crime.