Observers say that if China gets the right to build a military base in Vanuatu it’ll also be constructed in record quick time. China’s modus operandi is to lend target countries more than they can afford for projects that won’t pay returns,buttering up decision makers along the way,then to renegotiate the debt in return for the right to strategically important assets.

It spreads its money widely,because it knows that doesn’t work in one country will probably work in another. And when it gets approval,it moves fast,knowing that in many of the target countries circumstances change quickly.