BEIJING (Reuters) – China said it hopes Fiji will continue to give ‘firm’ support to it on issues concerning Chinese core interests and major concerns, Chinese state media cited President Xi Jinping as saying to Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.
Xi told Rabuka that China will continue to support Fiji in safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, Chinese state television said.
Both leaders met at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco on Thursday, where Xi told the Fijian leader that China is willing to work with the Pacific island nation to strengthen political mutual trust and expand practical cooperation.
China supports Fiji in independently choosing its own development path and achieving national development and revitalisation, Xi said.
The Chinese leader said China is willing to promote cooperation in infrastructure, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, new energy and other areas to help Fiji’s economic and social development.
China is also willing to increase Fijian imports, support commercial investments into Fiji and encourage more tourists to visit Fiji.
China’s policy on the Pacific Island nations fully respects the sovereignty and independence of those countries without attaching political conditions or empty promises, Xi added, saying that China develops ties with the countries without “selfish motives”.
China has been pushing for greater security and trade ties with Pacific Islands countries, signing in July a policing pact with Solomon Islands and raising alarm for the United States.
Rabuka has said that the Pacific Islands should be a “zone of peace” and that he hoped the rivalry between China and the U.S. in the region will not turn into militay conflict.
(Reporting by Liz Lee and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Stephen Coates)
