Australia's vaccine diplomacy in Pacific islands wards off Beijing, prime minister says

Australia has been able to stop an 'incursion' by Beijing into the Pacific islands by talking with leaders there weekly and offering vaccine aid, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Sunday. Concern over China's military ambitions for the region, after it provided police and riot equipment to the Solomon Islands, prompted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to last month announce Washington would open a Solomon Islands embassy. Morrison said China had been 'very clear' about aspirations to build a military base in the Pacific islands, but this had not occurred.