Members of the Press;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
It’s been my pleasure to welcome back the State Councillor and Minister for Foreign Affairs, H.E Wang Yi to Fiji.
Much has changed since 2018 when Minister Wang Yi last visited us. A pandemic has completely upended the world economy, climate impacts have intensified, and Russia’s war in Ukraine has sent food, fuel and freight prices skyrocketing.
We cannot retreat from the field of multi-lateralism in the face of these multiple crises. Indeed, global co-operation and international law have never mattered more.
We all know plenty of eyes have been on Suva during this visit. I hope we also know that geo-political point-scoring means less than little to anyone whose community is slipping beneath the rising seas, whose job has been lost to a pandemic, or whose family is impacted by the rapid rise in the price of commodities. And I urge the media who have intensely covered this visit to rise above the political punditry and put a focus on how we can solve these challenges together.
Minister Wang Yi and I had an excellent discussion on how Fiji and China can strengthen our partnership to take on the greatest threats faced in the Pacific.
Our meeting today was guided by mutual respect and the common interest of our people’s continued socio-economic progress. We have a solid foundation on which to build; Fiji’s friendship with China has helped develop infrastructure, train our people, and deliver essential medical supplies which accelerated our post-pandemic recovery.
As I have done with every Leader I meet, I sought a stronger commitment from China on climate action. As a global community, we remain woefully short of cutting emissions in line with the 1.5-degree Celsius target of the Paris Agreement –– and I will continue to push for a phase-out of coal and other fossil fuels by all economies as quickly and practically as possible. We also discussed the importance of combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, opportunities to expand sustainable ocean management in the Pacific, and ways we help Fijian exporters land more of their high quality products and produce in the Chinese market.
After our bilateral meeting, I also had the privilege of co-chairing the 2nd China–Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers Meeting with Minister Wang Yi. China is a Forum Dialogue partner in the Pacific Islands Forum and is also an important bilateral partner to the 10 Pacific Island countries that met today. As always we put consensus first among our countries throughout any discussion on new regional agreements. I look forward to our continued engagement under existing arrangements and the upcoming 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, which will provide our guiding framework for Pacific partnerships in a rapidly changing world.
As we build back better and stronger, Fiji will continue to seek fertile ground for our bilateral relationships. The challenges our people face will only intensify until collective solutions rise to meet them.
And I’m grateful to the Minister and his team for bringing a spirit of productive cooperation with them to Fiji.
Minister, Vinaka Vakalevu and I look forward to seeing you again soon.
Thank you.