China-Pacific tensions: US, UK join NZ and allies in Fijian military exercise

Photo / NZME

A military exercise in Fiji involving the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand ends this week as the traditional allies counter China's growing influence in the region.

The 11-day Exercise Cartwheel in Fiji began September 12 and ends Friday, the US Embassy in the Fijian capital Suva said in an email.

US Navy Commander Victor Lange said the name of the exercise originated from Operation Cartwheel during World War II, in which the US fought alongside the militaries of Australia, New Zealand and Fiji - then a British colony - to neutralise the Japanese base at Rabaul in Papua New Guinea.

The United States has promised greater engagement with the South Pacific after China and the Solomon Islands signed a bilateral security treaty in May that has raised fears of a Chinese naval base being established in the region.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and US Vice President Kamala Harris. Photo / Supplied

US Vice President Kamala Harris told a South Pacific leaders' summit in Suva in July that the United States would open new embassies in Tonga and Kiribati. She also flagged a tripling of US funding for fisheries assistance to $US60 million ($102m).

Australia's new government, elected in May, is also taking steps to increase its engagement with its island neighbours.

It plans to establish an Australia-Pacific Defence School to train neighbouring armies in response to China's potential military presence in the Solomon Islands.

Australians were reminded of when World War II came to their shores after drivers found what appeared to be an unexploded bomb off the coast of the northern city of Darwin.

Darwin became the first target of Japanese bombers on the Australian mainland in a devastating air raid on 19 February 1942.

A 250-metre exclusion zone has been established in Darwin Harbor until the Defence Department removes the suspected bomb, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.