Australia, Fiji Agree New Security Treaty With Eye on China

Australia and Fiji have agreed on a new security and political deal, as Canberra looks to shore up its influence in the region and limit China’s attempts to boost its presence across the Pacific.

The two nations will sign the “Vuvale Union,” a treaty building on an earlier partnership which was first signed in 2019. Vuvale is a Fijian word for family, and the new treaty will cover security, economic and people-to-people ties, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Wednesday in Fiji’s capital, Suva.