Alarm grows in Australia and New Zealand as China advances in Pacific amid U.S. retreat

Alarm grows in Australia and New Zealand as China advances in Pacific amid U.S. retreat

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with the Cook Islands' Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration Tingika Elikana, in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province in late May. Donald Trump's return to power has proved a major opportunity for Beijing to redouble efforts in the Pacific.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was not subtle in contrasting his country with the power it seeks to supplant in the Pacific.

Speaking at a forum of Pacific Island countries held in the Chinese city of Xiamen in late May, Mr. Wang said Beijing would fulfill its commitments to the region “through concrete actions,” including climate relief, unlike “a certain major country that has withdrawn from the Paris Agreemen