Abstract

The South Pacific island countries have been overshadowed for decades by a “primary–auxiliary hegemony” structure jointly shaped by the United States and Australia. This article begins by examining the distinctive dual-hegemonic configuration in the South Pacific, in which the U.S. assumes a dominant role while Australian functions in a supporting capacity. It identifies and analyzes three key mechanisms through which U.S. global hegemony and Australia’s regional hegemony interact: unidirectional empowerment mechanism, bidirectional cooperative mechanism and supplementary/proxy mechanism. The article further points out that most South Pacific island countries, constrained by limited national capacity and underdeveloped economies, tend to display three salient features: political vulnerability, external dependency, and policy volatility. In recent years, as the United States—working in close coordination with Australia—has continuously intensified its strategic encirclement of China in an effort to curb the expansion of China’s influence in the South Pacific, the impact of the U.S.–Australia “dual-hegemony” on these countries’ cross-Taiwan Strait policy choices has become increasingly pronounced. Finally, the article focuses on three South Pacific states—the Marshall Islands, Palau, and Tuvalu—that currently maintain so-called “diplomatic relations” with the Taiwan authorities. By examining the military and economic measures employed by the United States and Australia to exert and consolidate their influence over these three countries, the article analyzes the tangible impact of the U.S.–Australia “dual-hegemony” on their policy choices regarding the Taiwan issue.

Keywords

primary–auxiliary hegemonic structure, US-Australia alliance, South Pacific Islands countries, cross-Taiwan Strait policy