China's Pacific island-hopping reveals new front line of geopolitics

Foreign Minister Wang Yi's 7-nation tour challenges traditional partnerships

20220608 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) and Samoa Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, right, and Samoa Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa attend a signing ceremony sealing agreements between the two countries in Samoa on May 28. © AFP/Jiji

KENTARO IWAMOTO, Nikkei staff writer

June 8, 2022 14:41 JST

TOKYO -- China is not trying to militarize the Pacific nations, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said last week in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea.

Wang called that "fake news," on the last leg of his seven-country trip to the region.