China said Friday it is offering security assistance to Tonga to help it host the summit of the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) and not to build its “sphere of influence” in the region.

The offer consists of 20 motorcycles and “motorcade training” to help Tonga’s police handle the summit, the Chinese embassy in Tonga told Agence France-Presse.

China is also “trying its utmost” to speed up construction of a school stadium that will serve as the summit venue, the embassy added.

“China has no interest in geopolitical competition or seeking the so-called ‘sphere of influence’,” it said.

Beijing “fully respects” Pacific island states’ sovereignty and independence, the embassy said, adding that it was happy to work with other countries that want to help.

Tonga, a Pacific kingdom of fewer than 110,000 people, says it needs help to host the 26 August annual meeting of the 26-member PIF.

Tonga police commissioner Shane McLennan said the kingdom was still considering China’s offer to supply motorcycles and other vehicles to help secure the summit.

“Our current capabilities, with motor vehicle fleet protection and security operations, are very much underdone. We need significant assistance,” he told AFP.

Australia was also considering security help for Tonga but had yet to make an offer, McLennan said.

Tonga Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni has welcomed China’s support.

There was “no reason to be concerned” by the offer, he said last week. “It is nothing new. We have always worked with China and other countries as well.”

Australia’s Pacific affairs minister, Pat Conroy, has insisted China should have “no role” in policing the region’s island states.

“Pacific countries should look to the Pacific first for any gaps in security,” he said last month.

But the PIF’s secretary general, Henry Puna, has played down concerns over China’s role.

“It’s not an issue for us in the Pacific,” Puna told reporters this week in Nuku’alofa.

China signed a secretive security pact with Solomon Islands in 2022, sparking fears it could one day use the island to gain a strategic military toehold in the region despite assurances from Beijing and Honiara.

Beijing already has agreements to train police in Solomon Islands and Fiji.