Australia and Vanuatu sign deal banning foreign military base on Pacific island

Australia and Vanuatu signed a sweeping economic and security agreement on Monday, June 29, 2026, that prohibits the establishment of any foreign military base on the Pacific island nation. The deal comes amid strategic competition in the region, with Vanuatu at the center of rivalry between China and US allies. Australia has expressed concern that Beijing seeks a permanent security presence in the South Pacific.

Under the agreement, signed in Canberra by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Vanuatu counterpart Jotham Napat, Australia commits to increased economic support for Vanuatu, whose largest external creditor is China. "What this does is provide certainty for Australia that there will be no foreign military base," Albanese told reporters. Napat stated, "We have concluded a balanced agreement that will protect our collective and individual security and our sovereignty."

The Nakamal Agreement commits Vanuatu to rejecting the militarization of infrastructure. Napat noted that Vanuatu's parliament has already passed legislation barring the use of critical infrastructure for militarization. The deal also recognizes Australia as Vanuatu's primary policing partner.

China's navy has made repeated port calls to Vanuatu, and Beijing funded the expansion of a wharf in Luganville, once the largest US military base in the South Pacific, fueling concerns in Canberra and Washington that China wants a naval base. China and Vanuatu previously said the wharf was for cruise ships.

The agreement is the latest in a series of pacts Australia has struck with Pacific island nations to curb China's growing security influence. Chinese police have maintained a presence in Solomon Islands since a secret security pact in 2022. Vanuatu is separately negotiating an economic agreement with China, which has built roads and government buildings in the country over the past decade.

Former Australian diplomat James Batley said the contest between Beijing and Canberra would continue. "Vanuatu's long tradition of non-alignment means that it won't simply abandon its relationship with China. Nor will China abandon its attempts to undermine Australia's interests in Vanuatu," he told AFP.