Wang Tours Kiribati Where Fishing Ground Is At Stake

Foreign minister Wang Yi on Friday visited the Pacific nation of Kiribati, where the future of a vast fishing ground is at stake.

The four-hour visit by Wang was his second stop on an eight-nation trip, which is taking place at the same time as a competing Pacific islands tour by the Australian foreign minister.

Kiribati closed its borders this year as it tries to stamp out an outbreak of Covid-19. But its government made a rare exception to allow Wang and his 20-strong delegation into the country for face-to-face discussions.

At stake in Kiribati is the future of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, a stretch of ocean the size of the American state of California that has been named a Unesco World Heritage site.

In November, Kiribati President Taneti Maamau announced the government planned to end the commercial fishing ban that had been in place since 2015 and begin to sustainably fish the area.

China will seek a region-wide deal with almost a dozen Pacific island countries covering policing, security and data communication cooperation when Wang attends a meeting in Fiji next week, documents seen by Reuters showed.

Beijing also signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands, which is not far from Australia, last month. Wang, who was in Honiara on Thursday, clarified there are no plans to build a military base in the Solomons.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who is in Fiji, told reporters on Friday that Canberra respects that Pacific nations make their own decisions on whom to partner with, but is concerned about the consequences of the Solomon Islands' security pact with China.

"There are consequences, we think that it's important that the security of the region be determined by the region," she said. (Agencies)