CHAPTER EIGHT

CHINA IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS:

BEYOND THE ‘BAD DRAGON’ NARRATIVE

ѝ഻བྷ䲨㠷ཚᒣ⌻ጦ഻ũⶖ䝠ཆӔѻሖ䑀

KAO-CHENG WANG ⦻儈ᡀ

AND FABRIZIO BOZZATO ༛ݱᶌ

In asserting a “China threat” to Australian and New Zealand interests in the South
Pacific, many commentators have framed a regional political environment where
influence is zero-sum, policy approaches conflict, and Pacific Island Countries
(PICs) are reduced to static facets of a geopolitical “chessboard”.^1
China’s rising influence will require major adjustments in the Pacific, not least
for countries like Australia which must naturally look askance at the reality of
another player in the region, and a very major one at that. But influencing China's
role should be possible and can best be achieved by cooperation rather than
confrontation.^2

Introduction

Over the last decade, the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) presence in
the Pacific Islands Region has been growing spectacularly and omni-
directionally. Political-diplomatic relations, aid programs, economic
exchanges, and virtually all declensions of soft and sticky power, both by
governmental and private-sector actors, are on the rise.^3 In many respects,
China’s influence in the region appears bound to rival that of Australia and

(^1) Hill, Chessboard or ‘Political Bazaar’? Revisiting Beijing, Canberra and
Wellington’s Engagement with the South Pacific, 2010.
(^2) Powles, China:‘Beijing - Guardian of the Pacific’? 2007.
(^3) Sasako, “China makes splashes in the Pacific.”