Two Chinese diplomats were reportedly caught by Fijian authorities covertly attending a Pacific Islands Forum speech by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday.
The Chinese officials were watching a meeting of the forum’s fisheries agency when Harris declared an increase in U.S. involvement in the region, ostensibly in reaction to China’s expanding influence.
Harris said, “We will request from the United States Congress an increase from $21 million per year to $60 million per year for the next 10 years. Sixty million dollars per year for the next 10 years.”
As the vice president spoke, the Chinese representatives were seated among reporters. But Lice Movono, a Fijian journalist covering the event for the Guardian, recognized one of them as a representative of the Chinese embassy.
Movono said she “recognized him because [she had] interacted with him at least three times already,” including last month when media were prohibited from attending events attended by Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister to Suva.
“He was one of the people that was removing us from places and directing other people to remove us,” she said. “So I went over to him and asked: ‘Are you here as a Chinese embassy official or for Xinhua [Chinese news agency]? Because this is the media space. And he shook his head as if to indicate that he didn’t speak English.”
Movono informed the Fijian police, who removed the two men from the room. They later declined to answer inquiries from the media.
Diplomatic authorities verified that the individuals were a deputy defense attache and a defense attache from China, both of whom were employed by the Chinese embassy in Fiji.
The incident follows a recent uptick in Chinese activity in the region, which has been an undercurrent of the year’s Pacific Islands Forum.
As the United States and China compete for influence in the area, Pacific Island leaders have decided to take a unified stance and encourage industrialized countries to take more decisive action on climate change, which they claim is the most significant threat they face.
According to forum secretary general Henry Puna, a communiqué that will be made public on the last day of the Pacific Islands Forum conference in Suva would demonstrate that the leaders concur to contact one another before making security decisions.
Puna said that forum leaders this week rejected China’s strategy, which involved asking 10 out of 18 forum members to approve a pre-made security and trade agreement in May without any opportunity for consultation.
At a news conference, he stated that “the area did not accept such approach.”
Australia, the most prominent member, offered assistance and law enforcement throughout the area but was left out of China’s plan, along with several countries with connections to Taiwan.
The conclusion of a contentious and comprehensive security deal with the Solomon Islands and the Chinese foreign minister’s lengthy visit to the Pacific area, during which it is estimated that more than 50 agreements were signed, are two examples of how China’s engagement has picked up.
