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Australia urged China to avoid “coercion” in the Pacific Islands and to be “more transparent in the aid” it provides Wednesday, acknowledging a “state of permanent contest” between Beijing and the West.
Australia’s Pacific minister Pat Conroy said new economic opportunities for Pacific Island nations should not be “accompanied by coercion and interference”.
“We want to see a region where states can exercise sovereignty, free from coercion, and in accordance with international law,” he said in a speech to a public policy think tank in Australia.
