Abbott government urged to work with China in region

Transcript

The Australian think tank, the Lowy Institute, has urged the incoming Australian government to work with China in the region.

It says better co-operation would send a signal to local states there is no value in playing off the two countries to attract more aid.

The director of the Institute's Melanesia Programme, Jenny Hayward-Jones, says an unhelpfully mixed message is being sent to Pacific Island countries which enables their leaders to play on fears about China's rise in the Pacific.

JENNY HAYWARD-JONES: Australia has been sending some mixed messages. In public it says it wants to work with China in the Pacific and, indeed, welcomes Chinese influence in the Pacific Islands region. On the other hand, in the 2013 Defence White Paper, Australia hinted at concerns about China's rise in the region, referred to the growing reach and influence of Asian nations that might be a challenge for Australia's contribution to the region in the future. So I think this sending of mixed messages is reaching both China and the Pacific islands, and some Pacific governments are seeing this as Australia being wary and cautious about China's rise, and perhaps in some cases, using this uncertainty to argue to Australia that China is seeking to replace Australian influence, that Australia needs to step up in the way it delivers aid and perhaps deliver aid in different ways. They point to China's aid as coming with no strings attached, whereas Australia's, of course, comes with many strings attached according to Pacific island governments. So they're using this, in a way, to encourage Australia to change the way it delivers aid and also to play to Australian fears of China's rise in the region. Whether it affects the actual delivery of aid on the ground is less certain. I think what it shows is that many Pacific countries are looking at different ways of delivering aid and trying to encourage Australia to be more flexible.

SALLY ROUND: So what steps do you urge the new government to take?

JENNY HAYWARD-JONES: The Australia government signed a memorandum of understanding with China in April that enabled co-operation and collaboration in the Pacific. It was a development and co-operation partnership - MOU. We've suggested they should go beyond that and take these projects into real practical effect. At the moment there's only one project under that MOU. It's one that investigates malaria in Papua New Guinea. At the moment it's basically a research-based project, so we're arguing this project and others following it should be developed more to have a practical effect on the ground. But more importantly we're arguing that Australia should tie its co-operation with China and the Pacific to the broader political relationship. And to do that we're arguing that it should put collaboration with Pacific islands on the agenda of the new high-level strategic dialogue that Australia has secured with China. The first iteration of this dialogue is yet to happen, so it's really up to Australia now to suggest issues for this dialogue. And I think putting the Pacific islands and our common concerns and common approaches to challenges in the Pacific would be an important contribution.