Australia and Fiji signed a landmark defence alliance on Monday, committing each country to come to the other's aid if either is attacked. The Ocean of Peace Alliance marks Fiji's first-ever alliance.
The Pacific nation will become Australia's fourth formal ally, after the United States, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
The defence pact comes as China expands its economic influence and deepens security ties in the Pacific. It also follows Australia's recent security agreement with Vanuatu, under which Canberra will remain the country's preferred security and policing partner.
Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said the agreements marked "a very significant elevation" of bilateral ties into a new era of strategic partnership.
Australia and Fiji also signed the Vuvale Union, expanding economic and security cooperation between the two countries. It would be backed by A$1 billion ($692.7 million) in Australian investment over the next decade, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
"The Ocean of Peace Alliance introduces mutual defence obligations, and there's no higher obligation than to come to each other's aid at a time of need," Albanese said in a joint news conference with his counterpart Rabuka in the Fijian capital Suva.
"An attack on Fiji from an outside force would trigger Australia's full support for Fiji and for its sovereignty," Albanese added.
Rabuka said he did not expect China to object to the agreements, despite Beijing's previous criticism of Australian security deals in the Pacific.
"It does not threaten Fiji's relationship with China nor Australia's relationship with China," Rabuka said.
"We have made it very clear in the past, your enemies are not necessarily my enemies."
The treaty text said other Pacific countries could be invited to join if they can "further the purposes and principles" of the treaty and contribute to the security of the Pacific.
New Zealand would be interested in joining the agreement, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on Monday.
Albanese will visit the Solomon Islands on Tuesday to meet his counterpart Matthew Wale, where he is expected to continue discussions on a comprehensive strategic treaty.
U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to make the Strait of Hormuz part of U.S. territory have been mocked by Iran's Deputy Foreign Ministe...
Five years ago today, Taliban fighters entered Kabul, completing a rapid takeover of Afghanistan as the former government collapsed....
For fishermen along Pakistan’s southwestern coast, the consequences of the U.S.-Iran conflict are being felt far from the battlefield....
Hundreds of flights have been cancelled or rerouted at Catania Airport over the past week as ash from Mount Etna’s ongoing eruption continues to disrupt air travel in Sicily.
Wildfires across England and Wales have reached their highest level on record, according to the National Fire Chiefs Council, as firefighters struggle to contain outbreaks following a spell of extreme heat.
The U.S. will impose unprecedented measures on Iran in order to economically isolate the country, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said.
U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to make the Strait of Hormuz part of U.S. territory have been mocked by Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, who said the sea passage "cannot be seized by tweet."
At least 47 people have been killed after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off eastern Indonesia early on Saturday, triggering small tsunami waves and dozens of aftershocks, officials say.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised deepening ties with North Korea, saying Moscow and Pyongyang are coordinating their efforts to ensure “regional security and stability”.
Russia and Ukraine traded large-scale overnight attacks targeting energy, industrial and military facilities on Saturday, with a three-month-old baby killed and 11 people injured in a Russian drone strike on a residential building in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region.
At least 47 people have been killed after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off eastern Indonesia early on Saturday, triggering small tsunami waves and dozens of aftershocks, officials say.
Jason Arday, the former University of Cambridge professor at the centre of a plagiarism row, has been found dead. He was appointed Cambridge's youngest ever Black professor in 2023, but quit on 5 August, after being accused of lifting passages from his PhD from the work of other academics.
Wildfires across England and Wales have reached their highest level on record, according to the National Fire Chiefs Council, as firefighters struggle to contain outbreaks following a spell of extreme heat.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment