However much either side tempers their rhetoric, regional competition is the name of the game
- China pursuing Pacific-wide security pact with 10 island nations
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When Beijing’s new ambassador said in a conciliatory moment he hoped China and Australia could meet each other “half way” to mend ties, few suspected that might mean their foreign ministers’ running into each other in the Pacific.
But Penny Wong, Australia’s new foreign minister, and Wang Yi, her veteran Chinese counterpart, will almost do just that, as both set out this week on competing diplomatic trips to the island nations.
