Aid, ‘respect’ to counter China

with potential signatories the Cook Islands, Niue and the Federated States of Micronesia.

The US State Department has expressed concern about China’s intentions, saying Beijing might use the proposed accords to take advantage of the islands and destabilise the region.

Spokesman Ned Price said China ‘‘has a pattern of offering shadowy, vague deals with little transparency or regional consultation in areas related to fishing, related to resource management, development, development assistance, and more recently even security practices’’.

He said agreements that included sending Chinese security officials to the nations ‘‘could only seek to fuel regional international tensions and increase concerns over Beijing’s expansion of its internal security apparatus to the Pacific’’. – AAP, AP