First the Solomon Islands, now Samoa.
Samoa has become the latest Pacific Island nation to sign a controversial agreement with China, prompting questions about how New Zealand will respond to the superpower's growing influence in the region.
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi had reason to smile and wave after sweeping into Samoa and securing yet another Pacific Island deal. He's been travelling the region with a wide-ranging economic security offer.
A leaked draft obtained by Newshub shows China wanting to cooperate with Pacific countries on law enforcement, health, poverty reduction, maritime, and more.
"China provides Pacific Island countries with alternatives - alternatives that may be direct, or to improve their leverage in dealing with Australia and New Zealand," Auckland University's Dr Jane Kelsey told Newshub.
"The risk is they end up being pincered between two sets of superpowers, neither of whom is acting in their interest."
A statement from the Samoan government said they'll "pursue greater collaboration" with China. That includes working together on economic and technical projects, and a "fingerprint laboratory for police".
China's growing influence is causing concern for the Pacific's traditional allies.
"They're sovereign nations and have a right to determine their own future. We want to be partners with them though," said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Australia's been scrambling to catch up with China, with new Foreign Minister Penny Wong quickly deployed to Fiji this week to keep them onside.
And her mission seems to have paid off, with Fiji aligning with the West - the first Pacific nation to sign the same US-led economic framework Aotearoa joined earlier this week.
China's foreign spokesperson dismissed it as a move to 'gang up' on China.
Wong's efforts to secure Australia's Pacific interests have drawn comparisons to our own Foreign Minister. Nanaia Mahuta has been nowhere to be seen for days.
"We should have known more and she should be talking about what we are going to do to protect New Zealand's position in all of this," National's foreign spokesperson Gerry Brownlee told Newshub.
Mahuta again refused an interview with Newshub on Sunday. It's now four days in a row she hasn't fronted up to discuss the changing political landscape in the Pacific.
And with Wang Yi continuing his Pacific tour in the coming days, Samoa may not be the last Pacific nation to fall for China's charms.
