VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Australia under Prime Minister Scott Morrisson's government seems more open to its neighbors in the Pacific than the previous regime. One of the reasons for this is that Australia's opposition is more proactive with the Pacific region by disbursing funds worth A$2 billion dollars or about Rp. 20 trillion. Based on advantage or disadvantage, in fact, Australia doesn't gain huge financial benefits by investing the amount of money. Prime Minister Scott Morrison in her speech on Thursday (November 8) said that Australia has its lasting interest in the Pacific region that is safe, strategic, economically stable and politically sovereign. These aspects have become Australia’s perspective since China began to approach this region. China has, of course, interest in this region. With the influx of Chinese influence into the region, support for Taiwan is also declining. Several countries in the Pacific support Taiwan. Taiwan, which does not want to lose its pacific supporters, competes with China after Taiwan lost support from Fiji, which chose to close relations with Taipei and open the door to relations with China. But the influence makes Australia uncomfortable. The Australian opposition which is concerned about strengthening the influence was first planning a proposal to strengthen Australian influence. Soon, Australia disburses funds into the region; apparently Australia and China themselves face investment problems. Minister of Treasury (Treasurer), Josh Frydenberg said that he would block China's efforts to take over the gas pipeline business in Australia, which is worth US$13 billion dollars. There are foreign ownership concerns there. In addition, Australia also prohibits Huawei's involvement in the construction of the 5G network for reasons of national security. At present, the rivalry between Australia and China in seizing regional influence should continue to maintain a peaceful Pacific. We would like to see that whether both countries will win the sympathy of the Pacific countries in an elegant manner. The answer might be at the APEC Summit in Papua New Guinea –PNG next week.