Has China brought the silence of Pacific leaders on climate change?

Increasingly, the trading links between the Pacific Island nations and China are dominating the export sector in key industries: agriculture, fisheries, minerals, and LNG, and of course timber.

Trading links with Australia and other nations such as Japan and South Korea seem to be flat at least.

The capacity of China to influence Pacific Island nations through its dominance of trade must not be underestimated. Despite the pandemic it continues to grow.

China knows the more dependent small island nations are on it for their key exports, the more influence, and even control, it will have over them.

Sadly, it would appear that includes buying their silence when it comes to China's failure to reduce emissions (it has 1,000 coal fired power stations and is building more).

If Pacific leaders believe Australia's record on climate change must be criticised then they should feel free to do so. But surely they must avoid blatant double standards and be prepared to robustly call on China to do more as well?

They won't, for the reasons I have outlined. And isn't it time the Australian Prime Minister, and Foreign Minister, called out the double standards instead of maintaining a silence that most leaders, and people, see as a sign of weakness, not strength?