Australia is moving to boost ties with small island nations off its eastern coastline, pushing back against China’s growing influence in the Pacific Ocean as the virus outbreak hinders travel.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government has promised to supply its neighbors with COVID-19 vaccines in 2021 as part of a 500 million Australian dollars ($388.7 million) package aimed at achieving "full immunization coverage” in the region. It also recently signed a "landmark” deal with Fiji, one of the region’s most populous nations, to allow military deployments and exercises in each other’s jurisdiction.
"China has largely been missing in action in regards to providing COVID-related support in the region,” said Jonathan Pryke, who heads research on the region for Sydney-based think tank the Lowy Institute. "Australia has built up an amount of goodwill by not forgetting about the Pacific in a time of crisis.”