The report by Fairfax's David Wroe of a potential Chinese military presence on Vanuatu sent alarm bells ringing for many. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said a Chinese military base in the region would be 'of great concern' and Australian diplomats met with Vanuatu officials last week to find out more details.
Wroe's story was dismissed by multiple Chinese sources and Vanuatu Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu said 'No-one in the Vanuatu Government has ever talked about a Chinese military base in Vanuatu of any sort.' Subsequent reports suggest it's more likely to be a space facility with military implications.
Regardless of the veracity of the story, we know that countries like China and India have been using soft power to expand their influence in the region at a time when Australia's foreign aid is at a historic low.
This week Minister for International Development and the Pacific Concetta Fierravanti-Wells defended attacks by the Labor party about Australia leaving Pacific nations vulnerable to Beijing's influence, arguing 80 per cent don't support increasing foreign aid spending. But shouldn't our strong economic status rouse us to play a leadership role in the region? And it wouldn't harm politicians to bolster this notion to voters.
Australia has drastically decreased its donor generosity over the years with successive governments using foreign aid cuts to gain budget savings. Recent OECD figures show Australia has fallen behind for the third year in a row from 17th to 19th and our current donor rate of 0.23 per cent of Gross National Income means we lag badly behind the median aid donor (which gives 0.29 per cent).
China and India are rising global powers — thanks to a burgeoning middle class, huge export markets and military might — so why wouldn't they take the Western retreat from the Pacific as an invitation to dance? But their support comes with a crippling debt levels and the potential for a favour to be called in down the line.
Professor Clive Hamilton, who warned of this kind of grab for power in his controversial book Silent Invasion, told the Conversation that even he was shocked at how quickly it seems to have eventuated. He argues the west's failing commitment has 'made it easy in the Pacific for the people's republic to move in and gain influence because we have neglected what is after all our strategic backyard'.
"There's no such thing as a free lunch — any form of aid