China eyeing ‘security pact’ with Pacific Island nations, floats 5-year action plan, says report

News Snapshot:

New Delhi: China is seeking a comprehensive regional agreement with the Pacific Island nations ahead of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s scheduled tour of eight island nations, according to a report by Reuters published Wednesday. Wang Yi’s visit comes weeks after Beijing inked a security pact with Solomon Islands in the south Pacific — a move that was touted as a massive “failure” of the erstwhile Scott Morrison government in neighbouring Australia. The pact was also opposed by the US, Japan and New Zealand despite Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare insisting that it was necessary to counter the “internal...