Subtle but substantial? China’s outreach to island states tips military power play with US

Defence diplomacy gives island nations traction in the geopolitical rivalry between Beijing and Washington, but it is ‘a balancing act’

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) and José Ramos-Horta inspect an honour guard during a welcome ceremony for the East Timor leader at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People in July. Photo: EPA

Published: 10:00am, 30 Aug 2024Updated: 3:16pm, 30 Aug 2024

Two weeks after Beijing signed an agreement to strengthen its “comprehensive strategic partnership” with East Timor, it sent a military delegation to the small island state to discuss closer defence cooperation.

The development is likely to have caught the attention of officials in the United States, Australia and New Zealand – East Timor’s traditional security partners since achieving independence from Indonesia in 2002.

In recent years, China has been boosting its defence diplomacy with developing small island states such as East Timor – which sits on the Southeast Asian boundary with Oceania, not far from Australia’s northern coast – and the Pacific Islands.

Faced with development and climate change challenges, many of these island nations have gained traction from the geopolitical rivalry between China and the US, thanks to their locations along important maritime waterways and plentiful ocean resources.

A security pact between China and the Solomon Islands in March 2022 drew resistance from Australia and the US, prompting a “pragmatic” balancing act from the government of then prime minister Manasseh Sogavare.

The pact’s contents, while not made public, were understood to give the Chinese navy access to ports in the Solomon Islands, which raised alarm in Washington and Canberra.