The Militarisation of China in the Pacific Stepping Up to a New Cold War

In Australia, the volume of commentary on the implications of China’s foreign policy, especially in the South Pacific, is increasing exponentially while simultaneously narrowing in focus. Commentary is concentrating on geopolitics, while the perspectives of Pacific specialists that reflect more closely on Pacific conditions and the agency of Pacific leaders are being sidelined and this may ultimately be at the detriment to the sustainability of the government’s Pacific ‘Step Up’.