Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison Embarks On Landmark Pacific Trip

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison embarks on a landmark trip to the Pacific on Wednesday, hoping to mend fences and reassert Australian influence as China makes its presence felt in the region

Sydney, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Jan, 2019 ) :Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison embarks on a landmark trip to the Pacific on Wednesday, hoping to mend fences and reassert Australian influence as China makes its presence felt in the region.

Morrison will become the first Australian leader in decades to visit Vanuatu and the first ever to visit Fiji, where he is due to deliver a major speech on Friday.

In the face of increased Chinese influence -- and, some suspect, creeping militarism -- across the Pacific Islands, Morrison's government has stepped up efforts to secure his country's historic role as a regional powerbroker.

The trip will be "focused on our security, economic and cultural partnerships," said Anne Ruston, a junior minister responsible for international development and the Pacific.

Australia is by far the region's largest trade partner and donor -- providing quadruple the amount of aid as the next largest donor, New Zealand -- but has seen its influence wane.

In response, Morrison has committed to basing more Australian diplomats in the Pacific, increasing investment and security cooperation and developing a military base in Papua New Guinea.

Jenny Hayward-Jones, an analyst at the Lowy Institute, describes a "sense of panic in Canberra that China's growing influence in the region is now threatening Australian interests."