Pacific pivot to China?

Striking a balance will be the challenge, ensuring that development is sustainable and that the unique environment and cultures of the Pacific are strengthened from development and not diminished.

There is a discussion going on across the Pacific about regionalism and we have a range of forums in which leaders and others can meet to find agreement on our priorities and the way forward. This is a fundamentally important discussion, to find strength in working together.

Some of the questions we need to answer include:

• How can the Pacific Islands and the world tackle climate change and its impacts - and can China help if the US and others will not?
• What would sustainable tourism development look like for the Pacific?
• How can we build infrastructure and logistical connectivity to expand the trade in goods and movement of people between the Pacific and Asia?
• What are the governance challenges for nations and regional decision making forums at such a time of change?
• Will the Pacific Islands maintain strong links with traditional friends at the same time as building new links to China and other nations of Asia?

It is true that many believe engagement is a zero sum game and that just as economic, cultural and other engagement with China grows, so must engagement with traditional partners decline. I think the times are far too interesting and our shared interests far too important to be reduced to such simplistic thinking. One thing is sure, the new times require the nations of the Pacific to understand, pursue and defend their own national interests and for us to better pursue our regional agenda together.

Just as Xi Jinping said last week, marking the 150^th birthday of Sun Yat-sen, China has to walk its own path that suits its own conditions. I agree. I think the same is true of the Pacific. We must each walk our own path, paddle our own canoes, to suit our conditions. But the great navigators of the vast Pacific Ocean also know the value of teamwork. We will be more successful if we work together, with old friends and new. Rather than confront these interesting times with fear, I prefer hope and trust in our shared interests.