[1/2]A man on a motorcycle is reflected in a puddle of water in Funafuti, Tuvalu, August 13, 2019. AAP Image/Mick Tsikasvia license rights via Portal
SYDNEY, Nov 10 (Portal) – Australia announced on Friday a security guarantee for the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu to respond to military aggression, protect it from climate change and boost migration. The aim is to counter China’s influence in the Pacific.
Under the deal announced by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Tuvaluan counterpart Kausea Natano, Australia will also review Tuvalu’s security arrangements with other nations.
Albanese said it was Australia’s most significant agreement with a Pacific island nation and provided “a guarantee that if Tuvalu requests military assistance, Australia will be there for security reasons.”
Tuvalu is one of only 13 countries that have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan as Beijing increasingly pushes into the Pacific.
Under the treaty, “both countries undertake to mutually agree on a partnership, agreement or engagement with another state or entity on security and defense matters in Tuvalu,” Albanese said in a news conference on the sidelines of a meeting of Pacific leaders. and heads of government in the Cook Islands.
An Australian government official said this requirement applies to all of Tuvalu’s defence, police, port, telecommunications, energy or cybersecurity arrangements.
Although Australia has defense agreements with other Pacific island nations, in a region where China recently signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands and is looking to expand its police ties and infrastructure projects, the Tuvalu treaty goes much further and positions Australia as its key security partner.
Australia would allow 280 people a year to emigrate from Tuvalu, boosting remittances to the island nation of 11,000 people threatened by sea level rise caused by climate change.
Natano said Tuvalu requested the treaty to “protect and support each other as we face the threat of climate change and geostrategic challenges.”
The annual cap on visas would ensure migration to Australia “does not cause a brain drain”, he added.
“The Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Association is seen as a significant day when Australia recognized that we are part of the Pacific family,” Mr Albanese said.
Funds will also be allocated for land reclamation in Tuvalu to increase land in the capital Funafuti by around 6%.
Tuvalu, a collection of nine low-lying islands halfway between Australia and Hawaii, is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change and has long drawn international attention to the problem.
Tuvalu told the COP27 climate summit last year that it plans to build a digital version of itself, recreating islands and landmarks and preserving its history and culture.
A plan announced last month by Canberra and Washington to fund a new submarine cable in the Pacific would connect Tuvalu, which relies on satellites, to a cable for the first time.
Australia sees deeper economic and social integration with the Pacific islands as a way to ensure the region’s security, a government official said.
Reporting by Kirsty Needham, Alasdair Pal and Lewis Jackson in Sydney; Edited by Kim Coghill, Christopher Cushing, Lincoln Feast and Michael Perry
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