The government of Vanuatu is angrily denying published reports that it is considering hosting a Chinese military base.

The ability of Beijing to project its military power just 2,000 kilometers from Australia's shores would pose a challenge to Oz's role in the region, according to a report in Fairfax Media.  But Vanuatu Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu said, "I'm not very happy about the standard of reporting in the Australia media," because he says there are no discussions between the countries.

"No one in the Vanuatu Government has ever talked about a Chinese military base in Vanuatu of any sort," Mr. Regenvanu said on ABC's Pacific Beat program.  "We are a non-aligned country.  We are not interested in militarisation, we are just not interested in any sort of military base in our country."

The thought of growing Chinese influence in the southern Pacific does merit concern in Canberra and Washington.  China has pumped more than $2.3 Billion in aid to the Pacific since 2006.  And Vanuatu is one of the few nations that supports China's claim on territory in the South China Sea far beyond its internationally-recognized maritime borders.