Australia cemented just its fourth official alliance on Monday, signing a mutual-defence agreement and major investment deal with Fiji, partly to ward off Chinese influence in the South Pacific. On Monday in Fiji’s capital of Suva, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Fijian counterpart, Sitiveni Rabuka, signed the "Ocean of Peace Alliance," which commits each country to aid the other in the event of an attack. Article Two of the treaty, pointedly, declares that "shared values, including [a] commitment to free and democratic institutions," are the foundations of the treaty, possibly a swipe at China's authoritarianism.
The two countries also inaugurated the "Vuvale Union," an economic agreement that will see Australia invest close to C$1 billion in the island nation over 10 years. (Vuvale means "family" in Fijian.) Albanese said that "the signing of these two agreements represents one of the most significant endeavours Australia has undertaken with any country." Australia only has formal alliances with Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, the U.S., and now Fiji.
Fiji's population is roughly 936,000, but its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) spans 1,290,000 square kilometres — roughly the size of Saskatchewan and Manitoba combined.
Ripples in the 'Ocean of Peace'
Almost immediately, the "Ocean of Peace" alliance weathered a decidedly unpeaceful incursion: hours after the treaty was signed in Fiji, a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (equipped with a "dummy" warhead) into the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone.
The missile — reported by Chinese state media to be a brand-new JL-3 missile — has a range of up to 10,000 kilometres.
Australia, Japan, and New Zealand, notified by Beijing hours ahead of the exercise, condemned the act. The timing of the launch around the Australia–Fiji pact is curious, but Australian officials see it as coincidental, according to Melbourne-based The Age.
Instead, Beijing may have lined up the launch to coincide with the long-planned, U.S.-led RIMPAC exercises near Hawaii, involving 30 countries and demonstrating Western military power. Ottawa has sent two frigates, a patrol plane, and hundreds of personnel to Hawaii for the exercises. This year at RIMPAC, Canada is acting as the Air Component Commander.
