China

The Sydney Morning Herald reported his comments following remarks by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop that the Australian government was concerned some Chinese financing arrangements in the Pacific would undermine the islands' sovereignty.

She said Australia would aim to offer alternatives to Chinese infrastructure development.

Ambassador Cheng Jingye said the idea China wanted to create debt-traps for the Pacific nations was "ridiculous".

China's relationships with Pacific nations were on an equal footing which was mutually beneficial, he said.

While addressing the officers today, Commissioner of Police, Albert Nalpini said it is historical for the VPF to send a large number of officers to China.

Nalpini emphasized the need for discipline and urged the officers to be good security ambassadors of Vanuatu on Chinese soil.

The seminar will focus on the international security landscape and the needs of the security area in Vanuatu.

There will be a range of lectures, practical and enterprise visits.

The Minister of Fisheries, Matai Seremaiah, described the agreement as the result of tough negotiations with the Chinese.

The Daily Post newspaper reported the money would be used by the SinoVan Company to upgrade the plant to the point where it can go into operation.

The plant was built 14 years ago but had not been able to operate because there had not been a suitable wharf.

Our correspondent said the Vanuatu Government was now planning to build the wharf.

Social media users in the country noticed video clips of the cartoon were being removed on Saturday, and on Monday, state newspaper Global Times said that the #PeppaPig hashtag had been removed from the Douyin video website, while searches for "Peppa Pig" on the site produced no results.

Many papers also note that the platform appears to have added "Peppa Pig" to its list of blacklisted content.

The Peppa Pig cartoon is hugely popular in China, but despite being targeted at a pre-school audience, it has found mass appeal with Chinese adults in recent months.

Following reports that security officials were worried about China's intentions in Vanuatu, Charlot Salwai met Australia's Malcolm Turnbull in London ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

Mr Salwai said he has worked in government for 27 years, as an adviser and MP, and the idea of a Chinese military base has never been raised.

He told reporters that he attended a lot of meetings and it was never in any negotiations.

Mr Salwai ruled out any plans for a Chinese base in his country, and said he raised it with Mr Turnbull in their bilateral meeting.

Ralph Regenvanu's comment follows reports in Fairfax media citing "preliminary discussions" between Vanuatu and China about a "military build-up" in the Pacific country.

The claim has grown in relation to a recent Chinese-funded expansion of the wharf facility on Vanuatu's biggest island of Espiritu Santo being seen as a potential base.

However, Mr Regenvanu told the ABC the reports were false, and that no one in the government had ever talked about a Chinese base of any sort in Vanuatu.

But Mr Trump said maximum sanctions and pressure on North Korea would continue ahead of proposed talks in May.

He added that denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula was now a possibility.

The comments follow Mr Kim's meeting with China's President Xi Jinping, in his first known foreign trip since taking office in 2011.

Mr Kim and his wife were greeted with a banquet and a guard of honour, with the North Korean leader reportedly saying he was committed to denuclearisation. China is North Korea's main economic ally.

On Monday, Ardern pledged the government would dedicate almost $10 million in aid and support for Samoa.

She told Morning Report that regardless of what other countries were doing, New Zealand should exercise its duties and responsibilities as partners and friends in the Pacific.

Australian officials are increasingly worried by China's growing presence in the Pacific, and the way it is using concessional loans to bolster its influence.

They have also privately accused China of trying to win favour by funding projects which funnel money directly to leaders in the region.

Minister for International Development and the Pacific Concetta Fierravanti-Wells told The Australian newspaper that China was constructing "useless buildings" in the Pacific.

It is the highest profile Chinese deal to be rejected by Washington since Donald Trump came to power.

Regulators overseeing foreign investments in the US had refused to support the takeover, the firms said.

The geopolitical environment had "changed considerably" since the merger was announced last year, they added.

'Disappointed'

The collapse is a blow to the ambitions of Alibaba's billionaire executive chairman Jack Ma, who had promised President Trump that he would create a million US jobs.