Pacific rivalry with island visits Australia and china

Meanwhile, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Papua New Guinea to meet with leaders there on the penultimate stop of an eight-nation regional tour.
Australia and China are continuing their tit-for-tat diplomatic rivalry in the Pacific as foreign ministers Wang Yi and Penny Wong pay visits to Papua New Guinea and Samoa respectively
China’s diplomatic push
The diplomatic push by China, especially around Pacific security, has caused deep concern among some of the island nations as well as farther afield in Canberra and Washington. Since news of the proposed deal emerged, Wong has made two trips to the Pacific to shore up support for Australia.

In Samoa, Wong met with Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa.

Wong told reporters that Australia respected the right of sovereign nations to make their own security decisions, but said those decisions "have the potential to affect the nature of the security arrangements of the region. So having a collective consideration of those matters is important."