China’s foreign minister is to meet with Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama on Monday as his whistle stop tour of the Pacific continues.
Wang Yi is on a 10-day, eight-nation visit to the region, as western countries express concerns over Beijing’s growing influence in the Pacific.
Yi met with the head of the Pacific Islands Forum on Sunday in Suva, where Chinese officials attempted to block media coverage.
"The secrecy surrounding this trip and the control exerted by Chinese officials has been nothing short of extraordinary," said ABC correspondent Stephen Dziedzic.
"Most of his itinerary still isn’t public and journalists haven’t been given an opportunity to ask him any questions in Fiji.
"The ABC gained permission in advance to film his meeting with Secretary General Henry Puna but Chinese officials tried unsuccessfully to force the ABC’s camera operator out of the room."
The Chinese Embassy in Fiji says "the camera man was not standing in the right place".
In what was able to be filmed, Puna made the Pacific’s stance on climate change clear, saying limiting warming to 1.5 degrees celcius was crucial to the region’s prosperity, survival and wellbeing.
Over the weekend, Yi signed a bilateral agreement with Samoa
The two sides signed an economic and technical cooperation agreement, a handover certificate for an arts and culture centre and the Samoa–China Friendship Park, and an exchange of letters for a fingerprint laboratory for the police, a Samoan government news release said.
An agreement has also been signed with the Solomon Islands, while according to Chinese media reports, Niue has promised to strengthen ties.
Yi’s trip is taking in Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and East Timor.
The visits emphasise China's push for engagement with the region, which has traditionally retained close ties with Beijing's major rivals, including the United States and Australia.
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