US, allies urged to tackle climate change and respect China’s rise

Inia Batikoto Seruiratu (second right), Fiji's minister for defense, national security and policing, urges for action against climate change, the imminent security threat, in a session on New Ideas for Securing Regional Stability on June 12, 2022. (PHOTO / IISS)

While the United States and its allies push to hype the so-called “China threat” in geopolitics, more Asia-Pacific countries are respecting the truth that China’s rightful development should be respected and that the region’s most imminent threat is climate change.

Mariya Ahmed Didi, minister of defense of Maldives, found that “in the security realm people rarely speak of existential crisis”. 

“For small, low-lying island states, climate change is an existential crisis,” she said, noting the cost of failure is unfathomable as it is one “which can effectively erase a nation-state“.

Fijian Defense Minister Inia Batikoto Seruiratu, who emphasized that climate change meant a clear and pressing danger for their people’s lives, citing deaths, displacements and losses from extreme weather in recent years

Though talk of the challenge is not new, “what may be new is our level of despair,” she said on June 11.

Her anxiety was shared on June 12 by Fijian Defense Minister Inia Batikoto Seruiratu, who emphasized that climate change meant a clear and pressing danger for their people’s lives, citing deaths, displacements and losses from extreme weather in recent years.

Climate change is a much more imminent threat and a big concern to every Pacific Islander, he told the 19th Asia security summit hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) with support by the Singapore government.

“In Fiji, we’re not threatened by geopolitical competition,” he said. “The single greatest threat to our very existence is climate change.”

“We don’t want to wait for the tides to wash through our living rooms, we don’t want to wait for the next virus to threaten our health, and the next lie to mislead our people.”

He said Pacific island countries need the support of other nations and institutions in the region, especially for information sharing and capability development against this security threat.

“We can only combat the climate change together for the world, and for our children and grandchildren,” said Peeni Henare, Minister of Defence of New Zealand

Mariya Ahmed Didi (second right), minister of defense of Maldives, tells a panel at Shangri-la Dialogue 2022 in Singapore on June 11 that climate change is the top threat to island countries and what is new is their "level of despair". (PHOTO / IISS)

Moreover, “cooperation against climate change should not come with political price tags,” said German Minister of State Tobias Lindner, who added that his country is going for green defense.

During the two-day Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore from June 11-12, participants from the developing Asia-Pacific sought cooperation on urgent issues. 

But participants from the United States and its allies, including Britain, Canada, Japan and even the Netherlands, emphasized issues of tension related to China, apparently eager to prop up US-led “Indo-Pacific” strategy with more military buildup in the region. 

“It’s not an exaggeration that we now stand at a potentially dangerous point in our history,” Singaporean Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen said on June 12 at the dialogue, citing risks, including increased defense spending and pitches for joint military exercises in the Asia-Pacific, apart from the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

READ MORE: Fiji to highlight Pacific climate plight at German summit

However, China is the top trading partner for almost all Asia-Pacific countries, Ng noted. “For Asia, the core issue is about the interdependency that is far more developed, productive and mutually beneficial than Russia and Europe.”

He said Asia countries have effective confidence-building mechanisms and operational guidelines for the military, and Asia can strengthen existing establishments and step up engagements within and with other powers from outside the region.

Asian neighbors have disputes, Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto said on June 11, but “we will strive to solve those differences in an amicable and in a mutually-beneficial way,” and that is the Asian way. 

Prabowo said Indonesia values cooperation with all partners, but “we must always consider and respect the national interest and the rightful interest of the People’s Republic of China.”

Addressing at a plenary session titled Managing Geopolitical Competition in A Multipolar Region, Prabowo said China has been a leader in Asia for thousands of years and the rightful rise of China as it regains its position as a great civilization should be respected.

Indonesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto addresses a plenary session of the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue 2022 on June 11, 2022. (PHOTO / IISS)

“China is a key development partner and that is a known fact and that is accepted as well in the region,” said Fiji’s Seruiratu during a session on New Ideas for Securing Regional Stability on June 12.

Pressed by a series of heated questions on Fiji’s cooperation with China, he said the Pacific islands region respects what China has come up with in terms of cooperation.

Noting the creation of fear about the region by disinformation and misinformation, he said, “We all have the sovereign rights to make our own decisions.” 

“But at the same time, we also see benefits from all these relationships that we have, including China,” said Seruiratu.

Richard Marles, Australia’s deputy prime minister and minister for defense, also noted China’s economic success is connected to that of the region.

“Australia values a productive relationship with China. China is not going anywhere,” he said. “We will be steady and consistent, looking for avenues of cooperation where they exist while recognizing China’s growing power and the manner in which that is reshaping our region,” said Marles.

READ MORE: Cambodia starts naval base upgrade project with China's aid

Answering questions regarding the Ream Naval Base that is being upgraded, Tea Banh, Cambodia’s deputy prime minister and minister for national defense, said it is necessary for Cambodia to have a proper naval base to enhance its capabilities. 

Cambodia has the right to find assistance in order to build a base for its own use to protect its sovereignty, he said. 

He added that speculations that the project meant giving “exclusive use” to China is not true because “any ship from any country that needs emergency repair in the territorial sea is welcomed to come into Cambodia’s port”. 

Ng from Singapore also said the naval base in the country has welcomed warships from many countries in and outside the region.

Countering claims of Chinese navy increasing tension in the Indian Ocean, Biswajit Dasgupta, flag officer commanding-in-chief of Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy, said China’s naval forces have been expanding in the past few years, but “at the moment, I really don’t see that as a major challenge to the Indian Navy”, though “it is something to be watched”.

“I will not be surprised that in case there is a requirement, the PLA Navy could send more ships into the Indian Ocean to safeguard (China’s) trade in whatever manner they wish to.”

Delfin Lorenzana, Philippine Secretary of National Defense, in response to questioning on South China Sea, said, “Since 2017 there has been stability in the region and we’d like to keep it that way.” 

kelly@chinadailyapac.com