Reuters quoted an opposition party from the Pacific island nation of Kiribati as saying that the Chinese Communist Party plans to build bridges and roads in the island nation, which is about 3,000 kilometers from Hawaii, raising concerns from all walks of life.
Tessie Lambourne of the Kiribati opposition party told Reuters that the Communist Party plans to rebuild the abandoned U.S. military airstrip and upgrade the current bridge structure on the island of Canton in Kiribati, in the central Pacific Ocean, according to her. Opposition parties are trying to get more information from the government. It wants to know if the plan is part of the Belt and Road Initiative book that the country’s president signed with Beijing last year. Some military experts have described Canton Island as strategically important, and if completed, the island will become a “maritime aircraft carrier. Neither the local government in Kiribati nor the Chinese Communist Party officials responded to Reuters’ questions.
Located in the central Pacific Ocean, Kiribati’s largest island, Kanton, is strategically located along the U.S. shipping route to New Zealand and Australia. During World War II, the U.S. Navy built a military base on Kanton Island, which was then part of the United Kingdom, and after the war ended, Kanton Airport became a transit point for civilian airliners.
Kiribati established diplomatic relations with the Republic of China in 2003 and shifted to Beijing in 2019.
With the Asia-Pacific region at the center of the U.S.-China great power game and small regional states swaying between the U.S. and China, French geopolitical expert Benoît de Tréglodé believes everything can be bought with money. Last January, Kiribati’s President Maamau visited Beijing and signed a letter of intent on Belt and Road cooperation with the city. Although the president’s ruling party lost an overwhelming majority in parliament in last April’s legislative elections, signaling a growing opposition to Beijing, the incumbent was far ahead of his rival in last June’s presidential election. Commentary interpreted the election as a major victory for Beijing on the ground.
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