SYDNEY: Fiji is opposed to China setting up a military base in the Pacific Islands, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said on Wednesday (Jul 2), adding that it did not need such a base to project power, as shown by an intercontinental ballistic missile test.
Strategically placed between the United States and Asia, the Pacific Islands are a focus of rivalry between Washington and Beijing for security ties.
The islands were trying to cope with a big, powerful China seeking to spread its influence, Rabuka told the National Press Club in the Australian capital, adding that Beijing understood he would lobby other Pacific leaders against such a base.
“Pacific leaders in all their recent discussions have tried to go for policies that are friendly to all and enemies to none – and it is a fairly tough course to steer, but it is possible,” he added.
The Pacific would feel the impact of any conflict over the Taiwan Strait between major powers, a possibility already being planned for by China and other nations, he said.
Fiji opposes establishment of a military base by China, he said, in response to queries on Beijing’s security ambitions in a region where it already has a security pact with the Solomon Islands and a police presence in several nations.
“If they want to come, who would welcome them?” he said. “Not Fiji.”
China’s embassy in Fiji did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Beijing has previously ruled out establishing a military base in the Solomon Islands.
China did not need a base to project power, Rabuka added, as Beijing tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in September that flew over Fiji to land in international waters.
