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Here is the latest on the Matt Gaetz report:
China has renewed efforts to curry favour in Pacific island nations, a new report has found, after charting a “resurgence” in Beijing-backed aid and infrastructure funding.
Over the past decade, China has lavished billions of dollars on Pacific island nations, part of ongoing efforts to build influence in competition with the US and its allies.
Having cut back on Pacific aid at the height of the Covid pandemic, China’s commitments have climbed in recent years, Australia’s Lowy Institute said in a new study.
“Beijing has emerged from a pandemic-induced lull with a more competitive, politically targeted model of aid engagement,” the thinktank said in its annual Pacific aid report on Wednesday.
“The uptick in Chinese spending has been accompanied by a resurgence in new Chinese project commitments, signalling a revival in its ambition to engage in major infrastructure works in the Pacific.”
Australia – traditionally the Pacific’s partner of choice – remained the largest donor.
But US funding now narrowly trails that of China, the second-largest bilateral donor in the region, authors Alexandre Dayant and Riley Duke said.
In 2022, the most recent year with complete data, China spent $256m – up nearly 14% from three years earlier.
Australia spent $1.5bn, and the US $249m – both figures falling after a sharp increase the previous year.
