Stronger ties benefit Pacific island nations

This summer, Basi Sammuel, a 15-year-old boy from the Solomon Islands, completed a journey that stretched across the Pacific Ocean — and straight into the operating room of the Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University.

There, he underwent lifesaving open-heart surgery that gave him not just a healed heart, but also a renewed future.

Five months ago, Basi began experiencing persistent chest tightness and shortness of breath. After a detailed examination by the Chinese medical team sent to the Pacific island country, Basi was diagnosed with an atrial septal defect, and immediate surgery was recommended.

But such a high-risk heart operation was beyond the capacity of local hospitals.

Thanks to the coordination between Chinese medical teams in China and the Solomon Islands — and the dedication of doctors, nurses and volunteers along the way-Basi is now smiling, walking and breathing freely once again after undergoing a three-hour surgery in June.

On the day of his discharge, Basi's father said that it was the Chinese government, the Chinese medical team in the Solomon Islands, and the hospital that gave his child a second chance.

"We will never forget this kindness," he said.

Basi's journey was more than a medical success. This transpacific rescue mission has become a living example of China's commitment to building a global community of health for all and also of the friendship between the peoples of China and Pacific island countries.

Healthcare is only one of the many areas in which China and Pacific island countries have agreed to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation. Over the past decades, China and the Pacific island countries have achieved remarkable results in terms of political mutual trust, economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, since Fiji became the first Pacific island country to establish diplomatic relations with China in 1975.

At the third China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers' Meeting, held in May, in Xiamen, Fujian province, Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced that China will allocate $2 million for the further expansion of cooperation with island countries in areas such as clean energy, agriculture, fisheries, ocean, low-carbon infrastructure, low-carbon tourism, and disaster prevention and mitigation.

"The Pacific island region is one of the regions most severely affected by climate change. As an important partner of Pacific island countries, China is all along committed to helping and supporting the region in addressing climate change under the framework of South-South cooperation as much as its capabilities permit," Wang told the meeting's participants.

Tonga's Crown Prince and Minister for Foreign Affairs Tupouto'a'Ulukalala said he had a very good experience of visiting the China-Pacific Island Countries Climate Action Cooperation Center in Liaocheng, Shandong province, ahead of the foreign ministers' meeting.

Established in 2022, the center is China's first multilateral cooperation platform in the field of climate change.

Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala said that addressing climate change is a priority for Pacific island countries, and he knows that there have been Chinese scholars and professors who have gone to Tonga for cooperation in this field.

"It's important to be on the ground to be familiar with the communities and know the challenges that they go through, so that we know what the vulnerabilities are and how they can become more resilient," he said.

Besides the climate action cooperation center, another six platforms and frameworks have been established for China-Pacific island countries cooperation on reserves of emergency supplies, poverty alleviation and development, disaster prevention and mitigation, Juncao (mushroom and grass) technology, agriculture and police training.

In Samoa, China has assisted in the construction of more than 20 infrastructure projects and implemented six phases of agricultural technology assistance projects, training over 10,000 farmers.

In the Solomon Islands, the Chinese medical team has provided diagnosis and treatment services to more than 30,000 patients, reaching out to nine provinces and cities to deliver medical services.

In Papua New Guinea, Chinese experts in Juncao and dryland rice technologies have been working in the Eastern Highlands province for over 20 years, teaching local people mushroom cultivation and livestock farming and promoting dryland rice cultivation.

Officials and experts said that China's cooperation with Pacific island countries over the past years has shown full respect to those countries' own development aspirations and enabled the outcomes to benefit local people, thereby helping the island countries enhance their capacity for independent development.

Dalton Tagelagi, Niue's premier and foreign minister, said that for Niue, an undeveloped small island country, China's support has been very valuable for his country's modernization.

"Our partnership for the last 18 years has been grown in a sense of understanding each other. China plays a critical part in supporting the areas that we think that we share the same values," he said.

Zhao Shaofeng, a professor at Liaocheng University in Shandong province, who has frequently visited the Pacific island countries in recent years, said one of his profound impressions is that the people of those nations are very sincere.

"They struggle with having resources but lacking the ability to develop them. Therefore, they are particularly eager to look northward, toward the Asia-Pacific region, especially China, to board the express train of China's development," Zhao said.

Zhao said that the list of measures China has prepared to implement the consensus of the third China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers' Meeting is very detailed, as it covers a total of 12 areas urgently needed by the island countries, including free trade agreement negotiations, police and law enforcement cooperation, and scholarship and human resource training.

"These are areas where China and the Pacific island countries have already carried out cooperation and achieved positive results," he said.

Zhao noted that the guidance of head-of-state diplomacy has been a major reason behind the development of China-Pacific island countries cooperation.

When President Xi Jinping and leaders of Pacific island countries having diplomatic relations with China met in Papua New Guinea in 2018, they agreed to elevate the China-Pacific island countries relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership of mutual respect and common development.

"Since the president of China visited Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, we've seen a continual, strong relationship going forward. We have seen many areas of development that have really enhanced the living of our people in education, health and infrastructure development," said Justin Tkatchenko, the foreign minister of Papua New Guinea.