BEIJING: Prime Minister of Fiji, Sitiveni Rabuka is on a 10-day visit to China that includes meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang to promote bilateral ties.
Rabuka is the third South Pacific leader to visit China since early July.
According to analysts, Rabuka is likely to use his trip to promote his vision for regional order in the Pacific and focus on Fiji’s economic development. The visit is Rabuka’s first to China since he was elected Prime Minister in late 2022.
“I expect Rabuka to use his trip as an opportunity to promote his ‘Zone of Peace’ vision for Pacific foreign policy,” said Parker Novak, a fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub and Indo-Pacific Security Initiative.
Other experts think Rabuka will also try to strengthen economic relations with China, including restoring the bilateral tourism relationship during the visit.
“Rabuka does focus much more on the economic aspect of Fiji’s relationship with China, including the support for development and the infrastructure support,” Tess Newton Cain, an associate professor at Griffith Asia Institute in Australia said.
In an interview with Australian media, Rabuka said he is looking to learn from China’s experience in poverty alleviation.
After his meeting with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s summit in San Francisco last November, Rabuka said Fiji might look to cooperate with China on modernizing port facilities and shipyards.
In recent years, China has been deepening security ties with South Pacific nations signing several security-related pacts with the Solomon Islands in 2022 and providing policing assistance to Kiribati.
