Australia, China continue Pacific rivalry with island visits

By NICK PERRY
Associated Press

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Australia and China are continuing their tit-for-tat diplomatic rivalry in the Pacific as the foreign ministers from each country pay separate visits to island nations. In Samoa, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced Thursday that her country would donate a patrol boat to replace a similar one that was wrecked after it ran aground last year. Meanwhile, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Papua New Guinea to meet with leaders there on the penultimate stop of his eight-nation regional tour. Wang had hoped to ink an ambitious multilateral deal with 10 South Pacific nations covering everything from security to fisheries. He couldn’t find consensus on that this week.