Australia and Vanuatu signed a long-awaited bilateral security and economic treaty Monday that prevents China creating a military base in the South Pacific island nation. The deal, signed by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Vanuatu counterpart Jotham Napat in the Australian capital, puts state power front and center while ordinary people are left to live with the consequences of decisions made far above them.
Who Gets to Decide
Albanese called the agreement proof of Australia’s reach. “Our agreement reflects and confirms Australia’s role as Vanuatu’s largest and most comprehensive economic, security and development partner, a responsibility that we take seriously,” he said. Napat answered in the language of official partnership, saying the pact “reaffirms our shared commitment to continuing and strengthening the comprehensive partnership between our two countries, founded on mutual respect, trust and our common vision for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Pacific.”
That polished language sits on top of a hard reality: Vanuatu will not allow any foreign military base or infrastructure in its territory and will keep its critical infrastructure free from militarization, foreign interference or unauthorized access, according to a government statement. The agreement also says Vanuatu will consult with Australia when it considers third-party engagement in its critical infrastructure. There is no power of veto, after that idea was originally proposed. So the hierarchy is clear enough. Australia gets a seat at the table. Vanuatu gets consultation.
What the Pact Actually Does
The treaty is one of several Australia has struck or is negotiating with regional neighbors to prevent China from gaining security influence in the region. That’s the game: competing states carving up the Pacific through security deals, development money and strategic pressure, all while talking about stability as if it were a neutral thing instead of a managed order.
China pushed back, saying the agreement may be aimed at it. Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, “We hope that cooperation between relevant countries and Pacific Island countries will contribute to the development and stability of the island region, not target any third party or be used as a tool for geopolitical rivalry.” The statement reads like a complaint from one power bloc watching another tighten its grip.
Vanuatu also committed to prioritize policing cooperation with Pacific Islands Forum members, a group of 18 countries and territories that includes Australia. But the agreement does not exclude Chinese police. China does not have a permanent police presence in Vanuatu, though Chinese police personnel often visit the nation of 350,000 people. Vanuatu also agrees to come to Australia, New Zealand and France first in response to major natural disasters. Even disaster response gets folded into the machinery of dependency.
Money, Leverage, and the Fine Print
Australia had proposed to provide Vanuatu with 500 million Australian dollars ($344 million) over a decade under the terms of the agreement as originally drafted. Albanese said the cost of the latest agreement would be made public by December. That’s the old bargain in plain sight: money, access and influence traded through treaties that smaller states are told to accept as partnership.
Napat said a bilateral agreement Vanuatu is negotiating with China would be made public once the pact had “clearance from Beijing.” He has previously described the so-called Namele Agreement with China as a “comprehensive development cooperation” deal, and said it was not a security pact. Vanuatu has received large loans and aid from China for buildings, wharves and other infrastructure. The infrastructure arrives wrapped in diplomacy, but the leverage never disappears.
“Currently, it’s not yet signed. We will share the (Namele) agreement. There is nothing to hide. Our government is transparent and I am so grateful that the Prime Minister (Albanese) has also given me the clearance to share with them (China) the Nakamal Agreement,” Napat said. China did not say whether it would reveal the details of the agreement when asked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Monday in Beijing.
The whole arrangement has the feel of managed consent between states, each one guarding its own interests while speaking the language of mutual respect. In September last year, Albanese was notified that a previous draft of the pact had been rejected hours before he was to fly to Vanuatu for the signing. That rejection didn’t end the pressure. It just delayed the next round.