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Category: Pacific Islands Forum

  • Geoffrey Miller: Tale of two summits – why Jacinda Ardern said no to the Commonwealth, but yes to NATO

    ANALYSIS: By Geoffrey Miller of The Democracy Project

    Jacinda Ardern’s decision to attend the upcoming North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Spain — but to skip the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda — symbolises the changes she is making to New Zealand foreign policy.

    The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) starts today in Kigali, while the NATO summit will be held in Madrid next week.

    However, Jacinda Ardern is only attending the NATO summit. She is sending her Foreign Minister, Nanaia Mahuta, to attend the Commonwealth meeting in her place.

    Ardern is hardly alone with her decision to stay away from CHOGM — so far, only 35 of 54 Commonwealth leaders have sent an RSVP. New Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be among the absentees — deputy Prime Minister (and defence minister) Richard Marles will go instead.

    This is despite the fact that this year’s CHOGM is being held during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year and just over a month before the Commonwealth Games — the grouping’s sporting flagship.

    The summit will also be the first CHOGM since 2018, the first CHOGM in Africa since 2007 and the first to be hosted by a “new” Commonwealth member — Rwanda was never a British colony, but voluntarily joined the Commonwealth in 2009.

    Indeed, Rwanda’s hosting of the summit this year is not without controversy. Freedom House, a US-based think tank, calls the country ‘not free’, with a ranking of just 22 points out of 100 — placing it firmly in the bottom third of its global rankings, two places ahead of Russia.

    ‘Pervasive intimidation, torture’
    Freedom House says the Rwandan regime — led by authoritarian President Paul Kagame — undertakes ‘pervasive surveillance, intimidation, torture, and renditions or suspected assassinations of exiled dissidents.’

    This year’s CHOGM also threatens to be overshadowed by a UK plan to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda. Prince Charles, who reportedly called the deal ‘appalling’, will be representing the Queen at the summit in Kigali.

    Despite these two red flags, prominent human rights organisations are not calling for a boycott of the event. Rather, they want Commonwealth leaders to draw attention to the problems. Human Rights Watch, for instance, has asked leaders to voice their “grave concern to the [Rwandan] government on its human rights record”.

    And, in reference to the UK-Rwanda asylum-seeker deal, Amnesty International wants Commonwealth members to ‘seize the opportunity in Kigali to denounce this inhumane arrangement’.

    Jacinda Ardern’s no-show at CHOGM is probably driven partly by domestic political considerations and timing. This Friday’s inaugural “Matariki” public holiday, which marks the Māori New Year, was a key election campaign pledge by Ardern’s Labour Party in 2020 — and the Prime Minister is scheduled to attend a pre-dawn ceremony on the day.

    Outside of the Commonwealth Games, the Commonwealth has a low profile — but it has a lot going for it. Few intergovernmental organisations can rival it for size — with the Commonwealth’s collective population reaching 2.6 billion, only the likes of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum and the United Nations (UN) represent more people.

    Strength in representing small states
    Moreover, the Commonwealth has a particular strength in representing small states, especially island ones — 25 of the 54 members are classified as Small Island Developing States. This means the Commonwealth can be a particularly useful forum for discussing climate change and environmental issues.

    The results have included initiatives such as the Commonwealth Litter Programme, which has made real differences to countries such as Vanuatu in fighting plastic pollution.

    The Commonwealth is more than just a talking shop, but the disparate nature of its membership is a major challenge. The Commonwealth includes wealthy, democratic countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the UK — but also poor, authoritarian ones such as Cameroon, Rwanda and Uganda.

    In between, there are also some rich authoritarian members (such as Brunei) and less well-off democracies (such as India)

    Of course, there is still great value in an organisation that brings opposing sides together for a robust exchange of views — the new geopolitical faultline between the Global South and North over Ukraine is a case in point. While Western countries — including New Zealand — have provided strong support to Ukraine, most non-Western countries have not followed suit.

    It would do Jacinda Ardern good to listen to the rationale that countries such as South Africa and Mozambique might have for not falling in line with the Western position. Countries perhaps learn best when they are not just surrounded by their like-minded friends.

    However, in the new Cold War, ideology is back with a vengeance — and many countries are drifting away from pragmatic, inclusive groupings towards more ideologically-driven ones.

    Countering Chinese influence
    For Australia, this means countering Chinese influence with the reinvigorated “Quad” arrangement (with India, Japan and the US) and AUKUS (with the United Kingdom and the United States); for New Zealand, the Pacific Islands Forum and bilateral meetings with Australia and the United States have taken on greater significance.

    All of this explains why Jacinda Ardern has accepted an invitation to attend NATO’s Madrid Summit next week. Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance’s Secretary General, has recently been at pains to highlight the invitation to the bloc’s “Asia-Pacific partners” – Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

    The reason is obvious – on Thursday, Stoltenberg specifically mentioned China as one of the priorities for the meeting, which will set out a new “Strategic Concept” — effectively a blueprint for the future of NATO.

    And while NATO’s main focus will remain on security in Europe, last year’s summit in Brussels — held well before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — was noteworthy for making China its main priority.

    The summit’s communique made NATO’s position crystal-clear: “China’s stated ambitions and assertive behaviour present systemic challenges to the rules-based international order and to areas relevant to Alliance security”.

    Jacinda Ardern’s invitation to attend the NATO’s 2022 Madrid Summit will also be something of a reward for aligning New Zealand’s foreign policy more closely with NATO — and the West generally — over the past few months.

    After all, Ardern has overhauled New Zealand’s foreign policy by introducing sanctions against Russia and sending military equipment and weapons to Ukraine — and by making a symbolic contribution of New Zealand troops to Europe to assist with the war effort.

    Security ‘not for free’
    But as Stoltenberg likes to say, security “does not come for free” — and the meeting will undoubtedly also serve as an opportunity to put pressure on New Zealand to provide even more assistance. The NATO Secretary-General recently pointed out that there have been “seven consecutive years of rising defence investment across Europe and Canada”.

    New Zealand’s military spending shows a remarkably similar trajectory, with spending now at the 1.5% of GDP level– up from 1.1% in 2015, although still well below NATO’s target of 2%.

    Like Jacinda Ardern, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will also be a guest of honour at the NATO summit. Anthony Albanese is also travelling to Madrid — and Zelensky has already invited the Australian PM to visit Kyiv.

    If he accepts, Albanese would be following in the footsteps of many other NATO country leaders who have travelled to Ukraine in recent weeks, including the UK’s Boris Johnson, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Olaf Scholz.

    And given the focus on Western unity and solidarity in recent months, there is every chance Jacinda Ardern would travel together with Anthony Albanese on any European side-trip to Ukraine — on a joint ANZAC solidarity mission.

    Ardern is backing NATO over CHOGM.

    She might be choosing Kyiv over Kigali.

    Geoffrey Miller is an international analyst and writes on current New Zealand foreign policy and related geopolitical issues for Victoria University of Wellington’s Democracy Project. He has lived in Germany and the Middle East and is a learner of Arabic and Russian. This article is republished under a Creative Commons licence.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • In the Solomon Islands, Wong takes first tentative steps in repairing a strained relationship

    ANALYSIS: By Patricia A. O’Brien, Georgetown University

    Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong was no doubt expecting a cooler reception than her three previous visits to the Pacific when she touched down in Honiara last Friday.

    The Solomon Islands government website had not even listed the Australian minister’s visit — but it did note the first visit of a Saudi Arabian tourism minister, happening the same day.

    With this visit, Wong walked a diplomatic tightrope that no senior minister in the previous government appeared willing to.

    Solomon Islands leaders have had a very crowded schedule of late, as highlighted by the Solomon Star newspaper. It said Wong was the latest foreign figure to arrive on Solomon Island shores after a number of “high-level visits from USA, Japan and China recently, before and after the signing of the security pact”.


    ABC News on Wong’s visit to Solomon Islands. Video: ABC

    The security pact in question is the one signed on April 20 between China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, and Solomon Islands’ foreign minister, Jeremiah Manele.

    Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare explained the riots of November 2021 left his government with “no option” but to enter into such a security agreement to “plug the gaps that exist in our security agreement with Australia”. What these “gaps” are, he did not say.

    Since that signing, the entire Pacific has shifted in myriad ways. Wong has been very busy in her first month in office trying to reduce its impact.

    She has had some wins with Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. Also, Australia assisted with the rapprochement at the Pacific Islands Forum, which has emerged reinvigorated after the stress test of the past year, when one-third of the members threatened to leave.

    This was averted with a special meeting in Suva on June 7, with Micronesian leaders transported to it on Australian aircraft.

    The biggest win so far, for which Wong can take some credit, was for her work in advance of the Pacific Islands Forum meeting on May 30. Here, the ten nations that recognise China did not collectively sign on to become “China-Pacific Island countries”. (Federated States of Micronesia President David Panuleo rallied the region with a stirring letter that instantly became a classic text.)

    A whirlwind multi-nation visit by Wang before and after the May 30 meeting added inducements for working more closely with China through numerous bilateral agreements.

    Wang spent the most time on his trip in the Solomon Islands. The effect of his effusive welcome by Sogavare, encapsulated in the photograph of the pair linking arms, denoted the “iron-clad” ties the two leaders were cementing between their nations.

    Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare
    Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare link arms in Honiara after making their security pact. Image: Xinhua/AP/AAP

    In addition to the game-changing Framework Security Agreement, the Solomon Islands and China “achieved eight-point consensus” during Wang’s visit.

    This is a template agreement Wang has already shopped around Asia in 2021, tweaked for national specificities and concerns. In the case of the Solomon Islands, it mentions working together on “climate change” and “marine protection”.

    Given all that China has offered Sogavare and his political allies — to the great detriment of the nation according to Opposition Leader Matthew Wale, who has charged the security deal is “a personal deal to protect the prime minister” — what could Penny Wong offer?

    On her visits to Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, not being a member of the Morrison government that clung to its coal power and climate policies gave Wong a lot of mileage. This is the most important issue facing the region, recently reiterated in an impassioned speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue by Fiji’s minister for defence and policing, Inia Bakikoto Seruiratu.

    The Solomon Islands is no exception.

    That said, not being a Morrison government minister did not get Wong very far in Honiara. As she had signalled she would, Wong announced more vaccines donations and an expansion of the very popular (and desperately needed) labour scheme, the topic on which she got the most questions at her press conference.

    She also visited a school and lunched with women leaders, who would have raised the dire need for improved medical facilities. Notably, it seems Wong did not meet Wale and other Sogavare opponents.

    Very subtly, Wong presented an alternative to the China path. Unlike Wang’s visit, which greatly restricted press coverage, Wong encouraged it, no doubt hoping word would spread as it reportedly had in other parts of the Pacific.

    But what about “our shared security interests”, as Wong termed it? This got little traction in Honiara as Sogavare will not walk back from the China-Solomon Islands agreement.

    On the election campaign trail, Wong described the pact as “the worst foreign policy blunder since World War Two”.

    Many anticipate China will build a naval base, as appears to be happening in Cambodia. However, Sogavare has assured Wong, and others, this will not occur.

    What may happen is that maritime militias appearing as fishing vessels, which China has used to great effect in the South China Sea, will slowly build a China military presence if there is not a change of leadership and direction in the Solomon Islands.

    The recent “dangerous” confrontation between a Chinese fighter jet and an Australian airforce plane in the South China Sea on May 26, the day Wong began her visit to Fiji, is another sobering instance of tactics that might move south.

    While Wong’s visit did not deliver big wins, it did not make things worse.

    She got reassurances, but given what Sogavare has signed onto with China of late, there is a clear lack of connection between words and deeds. What Wong did do is signal another way forward for Sogavare’s considerable opposition.

    In the coming week, a multilateral Pacific Islands effort will be announced in Washington DC that involves the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and France.

    Given this, it is almost certain that the tempo of visits to the Solomon Islands and other Pacific nations is going to rise.The Conversation

    Dr Patricia A. O’Brien is a faculty member, Asian Studies Program, Georgetown University; visiting fellow, Department of Pacific Affairs, Australian National University; adjunct fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington DC., Georgetown University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Samoa and China have no plans for military ties, says Fiamē

    RNZ Pacific

    Samoa and China do not have any plans for military ties, Samoa Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa says.

    Fiamē — who is on a three-day trip to Aotearoa — is making her first official bilateral trip abroad since becoming leader last year.

    Her visit marks 60 years of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and Samoa and the 60th anniversary of Samoa’s independence.

    At a media briefing after talks with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern yesterday, Fiamē said: “There are no discussions between Samoa and China on militarisation at all.”

    She said the Pacific nations would discuss China’s security proposals at the Pacific Islands Forum due to take place from July 12.

    “The issue needs to be considered in the broader context,” she said.

    Ardern said there was capability in the region to deal with security issues and they could be addressed together, while stressing that Pacific nations still had the sovereign right to decide their own future.

    “We have convergence on our regional priorities,” Fiamē said, adding that Samoa believed in the region taking a collective approach to issues.

    She said the anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship signed by the two countries would coincide with Samoa opening its borders fully on August 1.

    Watch the media briefing


    Ardern and Fiamē hold a joint media briefing. Video: RNZ News

     

    The talks with Ardern had covered a lot of ground, she said, and the two countries would work together on tourism, education and in other economic areas.

    “Targeted assistance from New Zealand has enabled us to open our borders.”

    From August 1 flights to Samoa would increase from the current weekly flight for passengers to daily flights by the end of the year.

    Her message to Samoans living in New Zealand was that the anniversary celebrations will take place over 12 months so they had plenty of time to come home.

    Asked what Samoa required of New Zealand, Fiamē said “she was not in a rush to come up with a shopping list”.

    Instead it might be time just to reflect on reprioritising issues while saying climate change and education remained important as well as “building back stronger” after covid-19.

    Time for a rethink on RSE scheme
    On the subject of seasonal workers, which Samoa has “slowed down”, she said the New Zealand scheme was well run. But there were some concerns and Samoa was noticing the impact of the loss of workers in its own development sectors.

    Originally it was intended to send unemployed workers to Australia and Aotearoa for the RSE programme, but now the civil service and the manufacturing sector in Samoa were being hit by experienced employees leaving.

    “We need to have a bit more balance,” Fiamē said, adding that the new government wanted to hold new talks with both the Australia and New Zealand governments on the issue.

    Referring to the Dawn Raids, Fiamē welcomed Ardern’s formal ceremonial apology last year.

    “When we all live together it’s important to settle grievances and differences,” she said.

    Ardern said the visit has come at a special time for the two countries, referring to the Treaty of Friendship and Samoa’s 60th anniversary.

    She announced the launch of a special fellowship in Fiamē’s name and the New Zealand prime minister’s award plus the start of new sports leaders’ awards with an emphasis on women and girls.

    Discussions had covered their shared experiences on Covid-19 with Ardern praising the high vaccination rates among young Samoans.

    Climate change had also been discussed and New Zealand will increase funding for Samoa’s plans to tackle it.

    Invitation to Ardern
    On her arrival at Parliament yesterday morning, Fiamē invited Ardern to Samoa to take part in the independence celebrations next month and she repeated the invitation at the media briefing.

    Fiamē’s visit comes ahead of the Pacific Island Forum meeting.

    After welcoming Fiamē, Ardern acknowledged the importance of that meeting which will discuss issues like climate change and the current “strategic” situation across the Pacific.

    China’s growing presence in the Pacific is among topics sure to be covered by the two leaders during their talks.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Fijian policymaker calls for an ‘inspired’ defence of world oceans

    RNZ Pacific

    The global community needs to “be inspired” to defend the world’s oceans ahead of the second United Nations Oceans Conference in Lisbon at the end of the month, a Fijian policymaker says.

    Fisheries Minister Semi Koroilavesau said the Pacific could not protect its greatest resource through advocacy and action on its own.

    Safeguarding the ocean and its resources against future dangers “to make it truly sustainable” will require the “entire world” to show more commitment, Koroilavesau said.

    A former Navy commander and a self-professed marine advocate, he believes Pacific people’s future will be secured if “we will take whatever actions we must take”.

    There are “enormous challenges before us and we need to turn our hopes into genuine ambition” to boost ocean action in the Blue Pacific, he told participants attending the World Oceans Day celebrations in Suva on Wednesday.

    “As stewards of the Ocean, our task is to lead, to be a beacon of Blue leadership that inspires the world to turn away from the model of development that harms our ocean and threatens to strip off our life given resources,” he said.

    This year’s theme for the international day — marked annually on June 8 — is “Revitalisation: Collective Action for the Ocean”.

    Collaboration called for
    Koroilavesau said it calls for “wider commitment” and urged stakeholders to collaborate to realise the changes necessary to protect the ocean.

    “Our shared commitment towards collaboration will inspire and ignite actions that will certainly benefit us and our future generations,” he said, adding “the health and wellbeing of the Pacific Ocean and “the state of our climate are an interconnected system.”

    The Pacific Ocean spans approximately 41 million square kilometres and is a fundamental part of the livelihoods and identity of the Pacific people.

    Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) deputy director-general Dr Filimon Manoni said the ocean was at the heart of the region’s geography and its cultures.

    “It’s all we have…[and] all we return to in times of need, either for daily sustenance, for economic development, and nation building aspirations,” Dr Manoni said.

    “We are inextricably linked to the ocean in all aspects of our everyday life.”

    The ocean is home to almost 80 percent of all life on Earth. But its state is in decline, as it faces a range of threats due to human activity.

    Critical year for the ocean
    “Its health and ability to sustain life will only get worse as the world population grows and human activities increase,” the United Nations has said.

    This year 2022, therefore, is regarded as a critical year for the ocean and an opportunity to reset the global ocean agenda at the Portugal conference.

    This week, regional stakeholders gathered in Suva during the fourth Pacific Ocean Alliance (POA) meeting convened by the Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner (OPOC) to prepare for the UN conference.

    The gathering was scheduled to align with the World Oceans Day to drive regional and global awareness of the region’s priorities for global ocean action, according to OPOC.

    Over two days, the alliance aimed to identify the collective priorities for ocean action and approaches to drive global support.

    Ocean’s Commissioner and Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna said “much has evolved” since the last time the Alliance met in 2019, prior to the covid-19 pandemic.

    Puna said the region now finds itself “in a much more contested and challenging environment…faced with heightened geostrategic competition” as it “navigates the impacts of a global pandemic”.

    Ocean health still suffers
    “Yet the health of our ocean and indeed our planet continues to suffer as a result of climate change and other anthropogenic depressions,” he said.

    “This challenging context will place significant pressure on our ability to realise our political and sustainable development aspirations.”

    Several high-level ocean-related events have already been held this year with the Our Ocean Conference in Palau in April and the One Ocean Conference hosted by France in May.

    Puna is expecting the conversations held during the POA meeting will strengthen the Pacific’s collective vision to conserve and sustainably use the world’s oceans and marine resources.

    “I am hopeful that this gathering of the POA will provide an opportunity for us all to share our experiences and reflect on how we can work together, how we can collaborate and engage better, and how we can do more to ensure the health and survival of our ocean,” he said.

    The UN Oceans Conference will be held from June 27 to July 1.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Long term vision clinches Pacific Islands Forum rift deal in Suva

    By Lice Movono, RNZ Pacific correspondent in Suva and Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific journalist

    In a watershed moment, Pacific Islands Forum leaders have agreed on terms to prevent Micronesian countries from breaking up the leading regional body.

    The row, which came to a head in February last year, centred around the selection of a candidate for the top job at the Forum, with Micronesia feeling snubbed when its candidate Gerald Zackios was overlooked for the former Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna.

    The high level political dialogue was held in-person in the Fiji capital Suva yesterday.

    It was hosted by Fiji’s Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, the current chair of the Forum and attended by the leaders of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, Samoa and the Cook Islands.

    To outsiders looking in, the Forum row over an executive position might have looked a bit silly.

    But it was about more than just a job title.

    As the president of Palau Surangel Whipps Jr explains it, it was a feeling on the Micronesians part of being excluded from the day to day business of the Forum and by extension the region as a whole.

    ‘Let us look long term’
    “Micronesia said the SG (Secretary-General) is supposed to be Micronesian. But what is more important is, let us look long term.”

    And it is that long term vision that clinched the deal for the Micronesians in Suva.

    They came in wanting Puna out and were offered to have the rotation of the top job by sub-region put into writing and become a permanent fixture of the Forum going forward.

    “By the Forum agreeing that now we are going to put it in writing. It is going to be rotational we are going to be more inclusive at the head office, have deputies that represent the region, and sub-regional offices and the other the oceans commissioner all those add to being inclusive.”

    Samoa’s Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa is new at the helm and was not part of the events that led up to the rift. But she said she was pleased to be part of the solution.

    “We need to go through the process of all the members signing up, but those of us who are here, six of us, I think are representative of the three sub-regions and hopefully we will be able to implement what has been proposed and agreed to,” she said.

    Clock still ticking
    This is a crucial detail. The clock is still ticking towards when the formal withdrawal processes initiated by the five disgruntled Micronesian states last year becomes official. RNZ Pacific understands the first of them matures at the end of this month.

    That being said, it is still a huge break through and one Federated States of Micronesia President David Panuelo said he was grateful for.

    “Because just a few days a go it could have been that we will walk away and break up the entire Pacific Family but the common ground that we have reached has kept us together,” he said.

    Both Panuelo and Whipps Jr acknowledged the mediation of Pacific Islands Forum chair Voreqe Bainimarama and the Troika plus members and all other leaders involved in the political dialogue leading up to this juncture.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Pacific leaders talk Micronesia, China and regional stability, security

    By Lice Movono, RNZ Pacific correspondent in Suva

    Regional stability and security, and the China Economic and Security Deal were on the agenda today when some Pacific leaders met in Suva, Fiji, a Micronesian head of the Pacific’s regional political body says

    Several Pacific Island heads of state, including at least three from the Micronesian states, have arrived in Fiji for two days of meetings called by Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama.

    As chair of the Pacific Islands Forum(PIF), Bainimarama is positioned to call meetings of the Pacific Troika which includes current, incoming and immediate past chairs of the Forum.

    This usually takes place ahead of the Pacific Forum Leaders Meeting which this year will take place in July.

    The heads of the governments of Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia confirmed the Troika would meet with the Micronesian Presidents’ Summit (MPS) in the second of The Political Dialogue Mechanism, an initiative to allow for open conversation between PIF leaders.

    When it last sat last year, the Political Dialogue Mechanism sought to address tensions within the PIF after the Micronesia President’s Summit threatened to pull out its membership of the forum, threatening regional stability for the first time.

    The President of Federated States of Micronesia David Panuelo told RNZ Pacific in Suva, that the Micronesian leader’s main agenda was the tension over the way Micronesia was denied what long-standing regional tradition owed them, the seat of Secretary-General of the PIFS.

    ‘Nothing really being resolved’
    “This is exactly why we’re here and talks are ongoing, and nothing is really being resolved but we’re actively discussing this. This is a very good trip for our Micronesian brothers. Meetings are ongoing and today we will continue to discuss how we can get the best in terms of uniting and promoting regionalism,” President Panuelo said.

    “We’re all optimistic until, without ruling out any possibilities. I think we are optimistic. Let’s look forward to a successful conclusion of our ongoing meetings.”

    Meanwhile, President of Palau Surangel Whipps Jr said the two-day meeting would be the first time since the pandemic that Pacific leaders could meet in person, which made it an “opportunity to invest” in good dialogue.

    The Palauan president said Micronesian states had made clear their stance on the SG’s position and hoped the leader’s meeting would “come up with a solution where we can all walk away from it with good understanding and rebuilding of that trust.”

    “Well, I’m optimistic because we’re here. And we have the opportunity to sit down and discuss and find the best way forward,” he said

    Palau, which like most of the Micronesian states has diplomatic relations with Taiwan instead of China, hopes the Political Dialogue Mechanism would provide the space for Pacific leaders to “really share each other’s concerns and try to find a way forward where we can all be the winners.”

    Micronesian states believe the Pacific Islands Forum as a political bloc was built on values of trust and mutual respect which needed rebuilding, implying the fragmentation created by tension over the SG’s position is further threatened by the emergence of China’s plan for its presence in the Pacific.

    ‘Regaining trust, respect’
    “I think what’s most important is regaining that trust and mutual respect among the Micronesians and the rest of the forum. That’s what’s most important. How do we rebuild that? That’s the question and I think that’s what the discussion over the next few days is going to be about,” Whipps Jr said.

    Micronesian leaders are concerned over the wording in China’s proposed Pacific Economic Security deal leaked ahead of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit late last month.

    “We are friends to everyone and enemies to none but we also lived through World War Two. When we see documents that say, you know, certain countries need to be taken or taken back, it brings us back to the time of where we were all involved in World War Two and we don’t want to relive that,” Whipps Jr said.

    “We are peaceful countries and we want to live in peace and harmony. That’s the value of the forum. It’s the Pacific coming together and sharing the same values and I think we all want peace and prosperity in the region.”

    Samoan Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa has also arrived in Fiji for the meeting and the opening of a new Samoan High Commission in Suva.

    Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown is also in Fiji and opened a new high commission in the Fijian capital.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • China’s whirlwind Pacific tour a slight success with several signed deals

    ANALYSIS: By the RNZ Pacific editorial team

    China has been successful in signing multiple bilateral agreements with almost a dozen Pacific Island nations during its Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to the region.

    Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi started his region-wide tour last Thursday in Solomon Islands and has since met Pacific leaders from Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Niue, Cook Islands and Vanuatu.

    He is on his final lap as he wraps up with visits to Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste today and tomorrow.

    Beijing’s approach has alarmed Pacific geopolitics-watchers as well as its traditional Western partners, who are cautioning Pacific nations to tread carefully when entering into deals with China, particularly in the sensitive area of security.

    But the Asian superpower has declared its efforts to strengthen its relationship with the region does not have any political strings attached to it, even as its efforts to win-over Pacific foreign ministers over a multilateral trade and security deal received a major pushback, which is being seen as a “a big win” for the region.

    However, Wang has struck several development agreements focusing on economy, health, disaster response, and technology, among others during his whirlwind visit to enhance China-Pacific Island countries relations.

    Here is what we know so far:

    Solomon Islands
    Solomon Islands has been at the centre of regional political debate for the past few weeks because it signed up a controversial security agreement with China.

    Aside from that deal, Beijing and Honiara signed up further mutual development cooperation agreements in the areas of economic cooperation, health cooperation, sectorial cooperation. These include:

    • Non-Reciprocal Trade Arrangements.
    • Visa waiver exemption agreement for diplomats, officials/service and Public Affairs passport holders for China.
    • Civil Aviation Agreement.
    • Memorandom of Understanding (MoU) on health between Solomon Islands China .
    • Exchanged letters for construction of National Referral Hospital Comprehensive Medical Center.
    • MoU on Disaster Risk Reduction.
    • MoU between the two countries ministries of commerce on Deepening Blue Economy Cooperation to open up cooperation on infrastructure, marine industries, energy amongst other sectors.
    • Commitment to complete 2023 Pacific Games facility and training Solomon Islands sportspeople for the Games.

    “The two countries reaffirm their commitments to work together on all issues of mutual concerns,” Solomon Islands government said in a statement.

    Kiribati
    Prior to the arrival of Wang to the South Pacific, there were reports that Beijing was planning to sign up another security deal similar to the one with Solomon Islands.

    There was speculation that Kiribati was the potential target for the security pact.

    But there were agreements formalised on security.

    The Kiribati government confirmed the discussions, instead, ranged from China’s readiness to assist on climate action, covid-19, medical cooperation, and fisheries production and processing to maximise Kiribati’s benefits from our abundant resources.”

    Up to 10 bilateral agreements were signed between the two countries in a range of areas. These included:

    • Further elevating cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiaitve.
    • 2022 Economic and Development Cooperation.
    • Livelihood projects.
    • Climate Change.
    • Disaster Risk Reduction.
    • Buota Bridge and adjacent road infrastructure development.
    • Tourism.
    • Protocols on Dispatching Medical Teams.
    • Marine Transportation for the Line Islands.
    • Covid-19 medical supplies.

    “In just slightly over two years after the resumption of our diplomatic ties, both our countries have embarked on a very fruitful cooperation to cultivate our bilateral relations. These projects will deliver meaningful and tangible impacts on the lives of our people,” Kiribati president Taneti Maaau said.

    Samoa
    In his stopover at Samoan, Wang signed three agreements. These were:

    • Economic & Technical Cooperation Agreement for projects to be determined and mutually agreed between the respective Countries.
    • Handover Certificate for the completed Arts & Culture Centre and the Samoa-China Friendship Park.
    • Exchange of Letters for the Fingerprint laboratory for Police complementary to the construction of the Police Academy.

    Samoan prime minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said the bilateral cooperation agreements were initiated “a number of years ago” and were not new development.

    Fiame has also labelled China’s proposal to push through its multilateral economic and security deal “abnormal” and such an agreement could not be agreed to if the “region has not met to discuss it.”

    Fiji
    China has enjoyed much favour in its relationship with Fiji’s Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama. This trip was no different.

    According to China’s Ambassador to Fiji, the two countries signed three agreements focusing on economic cooperation but further details were not provided.

    Wang said after meeting with Bainimarama: “Our two sides agreed to further synergise our strategies, expand cooperation in economy, trade, agriculture, fisheries, tourism, civil aviation, education, law enforcement and emergency management and other areas within the framework of Blet and Road cooperation for mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.”

    Bainimarama stressed the two countries “have a solid foundation”.

    He downplayed the geopolitical tussle taking place in the region between Beijing and Western countries as the most central issue facing the region.

    He reinforced that climate change was the greatest threat facing the Pacific and sought greater commitment from China on climate action.

    “I’ve sought stronger Chinese commitment to keep 1.5 alive, end illegal fishing, protect the #BluePacific’s ocean, and expand Fijian exports,” he said via a Tweet.

    Tonga
    Wang arrived at Nuku’alofa on Tuesday, where he met with King Tupou VI, Tongan prime minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni, and minister for foreign affairs Fekitamoeloa ‘Utoikamanu.

    The Tongan government announced it had signed “several bilateral agreements” with China after discussions focusing on mutual respect and the common interest of the people of the two countries.

    • MoU on Cooperation in the Area of Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Response.
    • MoU on Deepening Blue Economy Cooperation.
    • Handover Certificate on the China-Aid Non-intrusive Imaging Inspection Equipment Project to Tonga Customs.
    • Letter of Exchanges on the Provision of One Fingerprint Examination Laboratory.
    • MoU on the Grant-Aid Assistance provided by Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China to the Government of the Kingdom of Tonga in 2022.
    • Agreement for the Peripheral Area of Mala’ekula Royal Tomb Improvement Project.

    According to the China’s foreign ministry, China and Tonga “reached extensive consensus on deepening cooperation in various fields and advancing Belt and Road cooperation, and signed a batch of economic cooperation agreements.”

    RNZ Pacific’s Tonga correspondent Kalafi Moala said China has been behind many development projects in the Kingdom.

    “There’s been a lot of local developments in Tonga by the Chinese, and that includes the restoration of Nukualofa since the riots of 2006 and we still have a loan from China that we still need to make payments on, it’s about $118 million dollars,” Moala said.

    Vanuatu
    Vanuatu was Wang’s sixth stopover.

    He met with prime minister Bob Loughman and his cabinet ministers on Wednesday, where the two countries finalised cooperation agreements in the areas of economic technology, medical and health case, and marine economy.

    No further details on the agreements have been provided.

    In a statement, China’s foreign ministry said Loughman “spoke highly of the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China with Xi Jinping at its core.”

    Loughman, on the other hand, said China “has proved to be a true friend of Vanuatu with concrete actions”.

    He “firmly believes that cooperation with China will better help PICs seize development opportunities, and will further enhance bilateral cooperation between PICs and China.

    Loughman has also indicated his government’s full support towards China’s “important role” in the region and its plans to expand its common development vision with Pacific Island countries.

    Cook Islands (Virtual)
    Wang met Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown on Thursday.

    Brown said China was willing to discuss and plan the next step of cooperation according to the development needs of the Cook Islands.

    According to Wang, the two sides could expand cooperation in tourism, infrastructure and education at the sub-national level to help the economic recovery of the Cook Islands.

    “China is also willing to discuss and conduct more trilateral cooperation on the basis of past successful experience,” he said.

    Brown said, “the Cook Islands firmly believes that the future of the Cook Islands is closely tied to China, and is ready to work with China to push for even greater development of bilateral relations in the next 25 years.”

    “The Cook Islands attaches great importance to the China-Pacific Island Countries Foreign Ministers’ Meeting mechanism and the next cooperation initiatives proposed by China,” he said.

    Although there were no details for any formal agreements signed, China’s foreign ministry said “the two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in Chinese language education, support and encourage young people in the Cook Islands to learn Chinese, and cultivate more friendly envoys”, adding “Both sides agreed to continue to support each other in the international community.”

    Niue (Virtual)
    Premier of Niue Dalton Tagelagi said Beijing had “made positive contributions towards Niue’s prosperity” and it is “pleased” the relationship between the two nations continues to grow.

    “We will continue to progress our close relationship and friendship with China to further advance bilateral relations and achieve common development and prosperity,” Premier Tagelagi said.

    “Joint initiatives with China, such as roading and other strategic development and investment opportunities, will ultimately improve the quality of life for everyone in Niue and are part of Niue’s key aspiration toward self-sufficiency. China has heard Niue’s call, and we are very grateful for that.”

    He said Nuie “supports in principle” China’s proposal in investing in common development and prosperity in the region.

    “We would like time to consider how the arrangement with China will support existing regional plans to ensure that our priorities are aligned and will be beneficial for all of us for regional prosperity.

    “I am confident that Niue’s officials will work together to ensure that the final document will reflect our shared vision,” he said.

    Regional reactions
    University of Hawai’is Centre for Pacific Studies associate professor Tarcisius Kabutaulaka said: “China’s rise has changed international geopolitics and its increased presence is changing the dynamics of Pacific regionalism.”

    He believed countries in the region need to work out how to better manage the power imbalance in their relationships with China.

    “The issue for me is that how do we manage that? How are we aware of that huge force in the form of China? And how do we manage that in ways that will benefit us and here I mean Pacific Island countries,” Dr Kabutaulaka said.

    Former Fiji prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka warned against “new influences” coming into the South Pacific.

    Rabuka said the Pacific was comfortable with the relationships it had had with traditional partners in Australia and New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

    “New influences will probably take us time to get used to. I am hopeful that the government of our friends of our joint development partners will continue to help us as we try to map our way forward,” he said.

    Former Tuvalu prime minister Enele Sopoaga said the growing influence on China in the Pacific was a “scary development” for the region.

    Sopoaga said Pacific nations were being used as “canary in the coal mine.”

    “The decision to take the draft [Common Development Vision] is up to individual respective countries in the Pacific. But I think this is a rather scary development that we are hearing about now,” he said.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • RSF condemns Chinese curb on reporters during Pacific island tour

    Pacific Media Watch newsdesk

    Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned a media blackout imposed on events during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s 10-day tour of Pacific island countries.

    Wang is today in Papua New Guinea at the end of an eight-country tour that began on May 26, but a “Chinese state media reporter is so far the only journalist to be allowed to ask him a question”, says the Paris-based global media freedom watchdog.

    On the second day of his two days in Fiji this week, “the media briefing itself was run by the visiting government [and] the press passes were issued by the Chinese government,” Fiji journalist Lice Movono told The Guardian.

    Movono and her cameraman, and a crew with the Australian TV broadcaster ABC, were prevented from filming a meeting between Wang and the Pacific Islands Forum’s secretary-general shortly after Wang’s arrival in Fiji the day before, although they all had accreditation.

    She also observed several attempts by Chinese officials to restrict journalists’ ability to cover the event.

    “From the very beginning there was a lot of secrecy, no transparency, no access given,” Movono said.

    During Wang’s first stop in the Solomon Islands on May 26, covid restrictions were cited as grounds for allowing only a limited number of media outlets to attend the press conference and only two questions were allowed ­– one to the Solomon Islands’ foreign minister by a local reporter and one to Wang by a Chinese media outlet.

    No interaction with the media was allowed during his next two stops in Kiribati and Samoa.

    Resist Chinese pressure
    “The total opacity surrounding the events organised by the Chinese delegation with several Pacific island states clearly contravenes the democratic principles of the region’s countries,” said Daniel Bastard, head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk.

    “We call on officials preparing to meet Wang Yi to resist Chinese pressure by allowing local journalists and international organisations to cover these events, which are of major public interest.”

    Following the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa and Fiji, Wang visited Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste with the same aim of signing free trade and security agreements.

    RSF has previously condemned the Chinese delegation’s discrimination against local and international media during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit held in November 2018 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, with President Xi Jinping attending.

    China is among the world’s worst countries for media freedom, ranked 175th out of 180 nations in the 2022 RSF World Press Freedom Index.

    Pacific Media Watch collaborates with Reporters Without Borders.

  • O’Neill warns Marape over ‘improper’ eleventh hour China meeting

    PNG Post-Courier

    Opposition People’s National Congress leader Peter O’Neill is urging Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape and the government to refrain from signing any agreements with China when their foreign minister visits Port Moresby today.

    “Now is not the right time,” the former prime minister said of the visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and of any likely deals to be struck between the two countries.

    Using more diplomatic words, he said: “A foreign minister of any nation visiting our country is an honour and as a gracious host, PNG would welcome the opportunity to showcase our culture, country, and investment opportunities, especially with a world superpower such as China.”

    “Democratic processes such as National General Elections only come around every five years in PNG and the small window of eight weeks of our election timetable should be preserved without international, high-level visits,” he said.

    The Chinese top government envoy, who is State Councillor and Foreign Minister, jets into Port Moresby just after midday today for a short visit to meet Prime Minister Marape and Foreign Minister Soroi Eoe.

    China and PNG will sign off on a Green Sustainable Development Policy which also covers Trade and Investment and Energy, among other issues.

    Foreign Affairs Secretary Elias Wohengu said yesterday that the visit would be brief as he would arrive in the night and would head back to China after meeting Eoe and paying a courtesy call on Marape.

    Bilateral meeting tomorrow
    He said that the official bilateral meeting would be held on Friday morning with Eoe.

    “The meeting will be minister-plus nine on both sides,” Wohengu said.

    “Thirty minutes after the meeting, he will make courtesy call on Prime Minister James Marape before he flies out of the country to China.

    “He will sign one agreement, which is the Green Sustainable Development Policy.

    “On the security status of PNG, we will deal with it ourselves.

    “He is coming back on his return trip to China from his Pacific Islands Forum ministers meeting which was held yesterday, co-chaired it physically out of Suva.

    PNG the ‘last lap’
    “So on his return lap, his last country visit is PNG before he flies out.

    “He was in Fiji and also visited other Pacific Island countries.

    “There has been resentment over Pacific Agreement on security matters.”

    China has said it is willing to make joint efforts with PNG to inject stronger impetus into the overall development of relations between China and the Pacific Island countries.

    “Both as developing countries, China is also willing to, together with Papua New Guinea, strengthen strategic coordination, and jointly voice maintenance for multilateralism and support for free trade in various international arenas,” it has said.

    O’Neill said in his statement that writs for the elections were issued on May 12 dissolving the current Parliament and Members of Parliament were now contesting the election and should not sign any agreements on behalf of the State, particularly with China.

    “All election related preparations have been made or should have been made well in advance and any donations of security equipment or agreements for China to provide security or election support this late in the timetable is improper,” he said.

    ‘Superpower tensions’
    “Tensions in the region between global superpowers from the West and China are driving foreign leaders to give a high amount of attention to the Pacific.

    “These tensions that exist between larger countries are not our doing and we should not be unnecessarily caught up as these larger nations shadowbox.

    “We desperately need partnerships with high quality investors to lift the standards of living for our people, but they must comply with our procurement laws and be done in a transparent way to ensure the best returns for our people.

    “There are some Chinese companies and, indeed, some Singaporean and Australian companies, who have not been subject to normal procurement procedures that warrant urgent investigation.”

    O’Neill said Marape should not have encouraged this visit which draws PNG into a regional and global matter that it does not have any business on choosing sides.

    • Papua New Guinea’s general election is July 9-22.

    Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Amplifying narratives about the ‘China threat’ in the Pacific may help Beijing achieve its broader aims

    ANALYSIS: By Joanne Wallis, University of Adelaide and Maima Koro, University of Adelaide

    Yet more proposed Chinese “security agreements” in the Pacific Islands have been leaked.

    The drafts have been described by critics as revealing “the ambitious scope of Beijing’s strategic intent in the Pacific” and its “coherent desire […] to seek to shape the regional order”. There are concerns they will “dramatically expand [China’s] security influence in the Pacific”.

    But does this overstate their importance?

    A pause for breath
    Australia and New Zealand should be concerned about China’s increasingly visible presence in the Pacific Islands. A coercive Chinese presence could substantially constrain Australia’s freedom of movement, with both economic and defence implications.

    And Pacific states and people have reason to be concerned. The restrictions on journalists during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Solomon Islands demonstrate the potential consequences for transparency of dealing closely with China.

    And there are questions about the implications of the Solomon Islands-China security agreement for democracy and accountability.

    But before we work ourselves into a frenzy, it is worth pausing for breath.

    The leaked drafts are just that: drafts.

    They have not yet been signed by any Pacific state.

    At least one Pacific leader, Federated States of Micronesia President David Panuelo, has publicly rejected them. Panuelo’s concerns are likely shared by several other Pacific leaders, suggesting they’re also unlikely to sign.

    China wields powerful tools of statecraft — particularly economic — but Pacific states are sovereign. They will ultimately decide the extent of China’s role in the region.

    And these drafts do not mention Chinese military bases — nor did the China-Solomon Islands agreement.

    Rumours in 2018 China was in talks to build a military base in Vanuatu never eventuated.

    What if some Pacific states sign these documents?
    First, these documents contain proposals rather than binding obligations.

    If they are signed, it’s not clear they will differ in impact from the many others agreed over the last decade. For example, China announced a “strategic partnership” with eight Pacific states in 2014, which had no substantive consequences for Australia.

    So common — and often so ineffectual — are “strategic partnerships” and “memoranda of understanding” that there is a satirical podcast series devoted to them.

    Second, the drafts contain proposals that may benefit Pacific states.

    For example, a China-Pacific Islands free trade area could open valuable opportunities, especially as China is a significant export destination.

    Third, the drafts cover several activities in which China is already engaged. For example, China signed a security agreement with Fiji in 2011, and the two states have had a police cooperation relationship since.

    It’s worth remembering Australia and New Zealand provide the bulk of policing assistance. The executive director of the Pacific Island Chiefs of Police is even a Kiwi.

    The drafts do contain concerning provisions. Cooperation on data networks and “smart” customs systems may raise cybersecurity issues. This is why Australia funded the Coral Sea Cable connecting Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea to Australia.

    Provisions relating to satellite maritime surveillance may cause friction with existing activities supported by Australia and its partners.

    Greater Chinese maritime domain awareness of the region – meaning understanding of anything associated with its oceans and waterways – would also raise strategic challenges for Australia, New Zealand, and the US.

    But there is a risk of over-egging the implications based on our own anxieties.

    China’s interests
    Much of China’s diplomacy has been opportunistic and not dissimilar to what Australia and other partners are doing.

    Although the region is strategically important to Australia, the southern Pacific islands are marginal to China. And apart from Kiribati and Nauru, the northern Pacific islands are closely linked to the US.

    China’s interest may primarily be about demonstrating strategic reach, rather than for specific military purposes.

    So, amplifying narratives about China’s threatening presence may unintentionally help China achieve its broader aim of influencing Australia.

    And framing China’s presence almost exclusively as threatening may limit Australia’s manoeuvrability.

    Given the accelerating frequency of natural disasters in the region due to climate change, it is only a matter of time before the Australian and Chinese militaries find themselves delivering humanitarian relief side-by-side. Being on sufficiently cordial terms to engage in even minimal coordination will be important.

    Indeed, Australia should try to draw China into cooperative arrangements in the Pacific.

    Reviving, updating, and seeking China’s signature of, the Pacific Islands Forum’s Cairns Compact on Development Coordination, would be a good start.

    If China really has benign intentions, it should welcome this opportunity. The compact, a mechanism created by Pacific states, could help ensure China’s activities are well-coordinated and targeted alongside those of other partners.

    Amplifying threat narratives also feeds into Australia’s perceived need to “compete” by playing whack-a-mole with China, rather than by formulating a coherent, overarching regional policy that responds to the priorities of Pacific states.

    For example, Australia has funded Telstra’s purchase of Digicel, following interest from Chinese telco Huawei, despite questions over the benefits.

    What will Australia offer next?
    There is a risk some Pacific states may overestimate their ability to manage China. But for the time being it is understandable why at least some would entertain Chinese overtures.

    New Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has rushed to Fiji days into the job with sought-after offers of action on climate change and expanded migration opportunities. Pacific leaders might be wondering what Australia will offer next.The Conversation

    Dr Joanne Wallis is professor of international security, University of Adelaide and Dr Maima Koro is a Pacific research fellow, University of Adelaide. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • China documents threaten Pacific sovereignty, warns FSM president

    RNZ Pacific

    The President of the Federated States of Micronesia says he has serious concerns about the details of two leaked Chinese government documents to be tabled at a meeting next week.

    President David Panuelo warns the sovereignty of the Pacific Island countries is at stake, and that the outcome of one of the documents could result in a cold war or even a world war.

    Panuelo has written to 18 Pacific leaders — including New Zealand, Australia, and the Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum — specifically about the China-Pacific Island Countries Common Development Vision.

    The other document is a five-year plan to implement the outcomes into action.

    In his letter he said the Common Development Vision and Monday’s meeting was a “smokescreen” for a larger agenda, and further warned that China was looking to exert more control over Pacific nations’ sovereignty and that this document threatened to bring at the very least a new Cold War era but in the worst-case scenario, a world war.

    He has urged leaders in the region to look at it carefully before making any decisions.

    In particular, Panuelo noted that the Vision sought to “fundamentally alter what used to be bilateral relations with China into multilateral issues”.

    Ensuring ‘Chinese control’
    The Vision he added sought to “… ensure Chinese control of ‘traditional and non-traditional security” of our islands, including through law enforcement training, supplying, and joint enforcement efforts, which can be used for the protection of Chinese assets and citizens.

    It suggests “cooperation on network and governance” and “cybersecurity” and “equal emphasis on development and security”, and that there shall be “economic development and protection of national security and public interests”.

    “The Common Development Vision seeks to ensure Chinese influence in government through ‘collaborative’ policy planning and political exchanges, including diplomatic training, in addition to an increase in Chinese media relationships in the Pacific …,” he said.

    “The Common Development Vision seeks Chinese control and ownership of our communications infrastructure, as well as customs and quarantine infrastructure …. for the purpose of biodata collection and mass surveillance of those residing in, entering, and leaving our islands, ostensibly to occur in part through cybersecurity partnership.”

    The Vision he said “… seeks Chinese control of our collective fisheries and extractive resource sectors, including free trade agreements, marine spatial planning, deep-sea mining, and extensive public and private sector loan-taking through the Belt and Road Initiative via the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.”

    Panuelo said the proposed China-Pacific leaders meeting on Monday in Fiji was intended to “shift those of us with diplomatic relations with China very closely into Beijing’s orbit, intrinsically tying the whole of our countries and societies to them.

    “The practical impacts, however, of Chinese control over our communications infrastructure, our ocean territory and the resources within them, and our security space, aside from impacts on our sovereignty is that it increases the chances of China getting into conflict with Australia, Japan, the United States, and New Zealand, on the day when Beijing decides to invade Taiwan.

    China’s goal – ‘take Taiwan’
    “To be clear, that’s China’s goal: to take Taiwan. Peacefully, if possible; through war, if necessary.”

    Panuelo said the FSM would attend Monday’s meeting and would reject both documents “on the premise that we believe the proposed agreement needlessly heightens geopolitical tensions, and that the agreement threatens regional stability and security, including both my country’s Great Friendship with China and my country’s Enduring Partnership with the United States.”

    He said the Vision and meeting were a “smokescreen for a larger agenda”.

    “Despite our ceaseless and accurate howls that Climate Change represents the single-most existential security threat to our islands, the Common Development Vision threatens to bring a new Cold war era at best, and a World War at worst.”

    He said the only way to maintain the relationship with Beijing was to focus exclusively on economic and technical cooperation.

    Panuelo hoped that by alerting his Pacific colleagues of developments that “… we can collectively take the steps necessary to prevent any intensified conflict, and possible breakout of war, from ever happening in the first place”.

    “I believe that Australia needs to take climate change more seriously and urgently. I believe that the United States should have a diplomatic presence in all sovereign Pacific Islands Countries, and step-up its assistance to all islands, to include its own states and territories in the Pacific.”

    Not a justification
    Panuelo summed up: “However, it is my view that the shortcomings of our allies are not a justification for condemning the leaders who succeed us in having to accept a war that we failed to recognise was coming and failed to prevent from occurring.

    “We can only reassert the rightful focus on climate change as our region’s most existential threat by taking every single possible action to promote peace and harmony across our Blue Pacific Continent.”

    Panuelo said his cabinet has suggested the FSM resist the objectives of the documents and the nation maintain its own bilateral agenda for development and engagement with China.

    He also said the documents would open up Pacific countries to having phone calls and emails intercepted and overheard.

    China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi is currently visiting several Pacific countries.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Dan McGarry: A new day in the Pacific – but will this mean a new Australian trajectory?

    THE VILLAGE EXPLAINER: By Dan McGarry

    With the Australian general election largely done and dusted, and with a clear (if still-to-be-quantified) mandate, Anthony Albanese faces greater and more immediate international challenges than any Australian Prime Minister since the Cold War began.

    Between climate change and an increasingly truculent — not to say belligerent — China, Pacific island countries are searching for reassurance, safety and support. Reassurance that we are valued and respected, and that a rules based order has the same rules for everyone else as it has for us.

    Safety, from the increasingly violent buffeting of climate change, and from the risk of losing our balance in the increasingly straitened geopolitical space we occupy. And support for our own self-determination, territorial integrity and survival.

    Each if these will have significant impacts on the Albanese government’s domestic policies.

    Each will have lasting impact on the Pacific islands region.

    Let’s hope they’ve got a plan in place. They do not have the luxury of time.

    Part of this fight will have to happen while they’re still strapping on the gloves. We’ve already looked at some of the challenges Penny Wong is likely to face when she (almost certainly) becomes Foreign Minister.

    In this issue, we’ll enumerate some of the immediate challenges faced by Wong and her cabinet colleagues.

    PIF Secretariat in shambles
    The Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat is in a shambles right now, in no small part because of Australia’s call for a vote during the selection of its most recent Secretary-General, rather than enduring more painstaking but traditional method of consensus-building our leaders learned in the village meeting house.

    The voting split the membership, and the Micronesian contingent still have not reconciled themselves completely.

    There is little Australia can do to fix that. But they can offer unconditional support to the body itself, and for the idea it embodies. They can formally uphold the Boe Declaration, which lists climate change as the single greatest security threat faced by the Pacific islands region, by re-basing (sorry) their security stance on this premise.

    They can fund and support the Blue Pacific strategy. They can fund the Secretariat’s climate indemnity scheme. They can show our reluctant leaders that the PIF is worth being part of.

    More importantly, they can promote our voices in Washington and at the UN. Our plight on the world stage resembles the challenges women have faced since… forever. Ignored, subverted, explained to, denied agency over our own body politic. We don’t need people to speak for us. We need people to listen when we speak for ourselves.

    Endorsement and sponsorship for voices like those of our esteemed Pacific Elders would go a long way to achieving that.

    Even more ambitiously: Is a Pacific COP possible? I’d be pleasantly surprised if this Labor government proved willing to spend the time and effort reaching a landmark such as this.

    Port Vila's Bauerfield airport
    Port Vila’s Bauerfield airport … flooded for the first time in living memory. Image: The Village Explainer

    Immense time, resources needed
    The time and resources required would be immense, and would compete with dozens of looming challenges in the foreign relations/defence space.

    Despite the massive victory it could bring, the opportunity costs are immense. If a COP were achieved, it would build a legacy that could be relied on for years to come, but as we’ve stated before, all this would have to be achieved with a lethargic, hidebound DFAT bureaucracy.

    It’s sadly much easier to imagine Australia lurching from crisis to crisis, as it has for decades.

    In terms of bilateral relations, the stakes are even higher. It is clear now that China intends to build on its perceived momentum in the Pacific, and to test Labor’s mettle from the very start.

    Wang Yi’s tour of four (or five?) Pacific island nations is only days away. His diplomats have been working hard to replicate the success they achieved with Solomon Islands PM Manasseh Sogavare, who signed an unprecedented security agreement that would allow personnel to be stationed in-country and ships to visit and re-victual.

    It doesn’t appear that Wang will get what he wants. The pressure is on in Kiribati, but the government there has paid a hefty political price for its whole-throated support of China.

    Since 2020, it’s been feeling much more phlegmatic than it was in the past.

    Chinese base in Kiribati a worry
    Good thing, too. A Chinese base in Kiribati is one that even I worry about. Having AA/AD capabilities just a hop, skip and a jump from Honolulu would force a fundamental re-evaluation of the US Navy’s Pacific stance.

    I’ve pooh-poohed talk of bases in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands in the past. I worry about Kiribati.

    Vanuatu, at least, has managed to keep dancing on the head of an increasingly pointy pin. Resisting pressure at the highest level to include an overt security component in Wang Yi’s gift bag, it has instead signed on to a massive upgrade for its Luganville airport, which will allow wide-body aircraft to fly there directly from Asia.

    The island of Espiritu Santo has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. An upgrade to its international airport is part of Vanuatu’s 2018 tourism development strategy.

    Yes, it’s undeniably true that any airport that can handle an A330 NEO can also handle a C17 or a Xi’an Y-20. But Vanuatu has — for the moment, at least — avoided explicitly allowing any such flights, except possibly for humanitarian reasons.

    Vanuatu’s example is illuminating. They appear to have translated a high-stakes geopolitical gambit into an economic development gain that fits the country’s plans, and which will provide a massive economic boost to its moribund tourist industry.

    But they are faced with increased stridency from all sides, and if they lose the space to manoeuvre, either through rising geopolitical tensions or because climate change pushes us past the point of resilience, then we will be more at risk ourselves, and more of a risk to our neighbours.

    A precarious truth in the Pacific
    This precarious truth applies even more so in Solomon Islands, in PNG, in Fiji … in fact everywhere in the region. Security begins with stability and predictability. We need to know we’ll be around in a generation’s time before we make any other promises.

    And we need to know that Australia’s promises will be kept this time, rather than sacrificed at the altar of domestic politics, as they have under every Liberal and Labor government since the millennium began.

    Can Penny Wong unilaterally undo these all tensions? No. But she can fight for a foreign policy that changes Australia’s trajectory, rather than one that attempts to change ours.

    Rather than trying to align us to Australia, she can fight to align Australia to confront our common existential threats, to listen to how we expect to address them, and then to be a proper friend, and act on our words.

    The Village Explainer by Dan McGarry is a semi-regular newsletter containing analysis and insight focusing on under-reported aspects of Pacific societies, politics and economics. Republished with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Former Solomons PM says country needs economic solution not security

    By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific journalist

    Former Solomon Islands Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo says the country needs an economic solution to its instability problems, not a security solution.

    Lilo said he could not understand how current Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare could justify signing a security cooperation agreement with China to quell public discontent in his government’s handling of national affairs.

    Earlier this week Honiara and Beijing confirmed the signing of a security treaty despite serious concerns raised locally and internationally about the deal.

    Lilo was supporting calls for the document to be made public in the interest of transparency and accountability.

    “The best thing to help our people … to understand better on government is for government to take responsibility to manage our economy,” Lilo said.

    “Create more employment, create more investment, that to me is a better way of securing a better society for our country, than to militarise this country,” he said.

    Lilo served as prime minister of Solomon Islands from 2011 to 2014.

    ‘Beggars have no choice’
    Meanwhile, another former prime minister, Danny Philip, who is now a backbencher in the Sogavare government, said Solomon Islands was “open to all sorts of things” because “beggars do not have a choice”.

    He said Solomon Islands was mindful of the interplay between the superpowers in the Pacific, but the country did not want to be drawn into geopolitical battles.

    “Yes, the US has always been there. But for the first time ever in 80 years they’ve sent very high officials to the Solomon Islands at the moment,” he said.

    “We have with arrangements with Australia, which is very much US-mandated agreement. Australia is referred to by President Bush, I think as the as the ‘deputy sheriff’ of the United States in the Pacific.”

    Solomon Islanders treated with ‘disrespect‘
    A senior journalist in Honiara said Solomon Islanders were being treated disrespectfully and kept in the dark over the government’s security pact with China.

    Speaking at a panel on the contentious treaty, Dorothy Wickham said most of the news coverage on the security arrangement had been focused on Australia and America’s positions.

    “The government’s handling of the way it went about handling this treaty shows disrespect … to Solomon Islanders that there was no discussion, no consultation,” she said.

    “Even a press release on the eve of the signing would have been a standard procedure and until today we have not had a press briefing or a press statement for a press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Office,” Wickham added.

    She said the government had not meaningfully engaged with journalists to ensure that they could inform Solomon Islanders about what the security deal meant for them.

    Wickham said local media had been struggling to refocus the narrative so that it was about Solomon Islands.

    Pacific Islands Forum best place to discuss contentious security pact
    Meanwhile, New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said discussions on the security agreement signed between China and Solomon Islands needed to be inclusive of other Pacific nations.

    Mahuta said the Pacific Islands Forum was the best platform for discussing regional security concerns.

    “I have concerns that based on a number of representations to ensure that this is fully discussed because of the regional implications that this has not been given priority, certainly by Solomon Islands, they have given us assurances, we must take them at their word, respecting their sovereignty,” Mahuta said.

    “However, regional security issues, regional sovereignty issues are a matter of a broader forum. We see the Pacific Islands Forum as the best place for this.”

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • US announces deeper engagement strategy to match China in the Pacific

    By Lice Movono, RNZ Pacific correspondent in Suva

    The United States insists it is a Pacific nation and has unveiled a raft of new strategies to better engage with other nations in the Region.

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is the first Secretary of State to visit Fiji in nearly 37 years.

    During his historic visit, Blinken announced that the US was pursuing deeper engagement plans with Pacific nations.

    A key element and motivation for those plans is the strengthening of the US presence to match the growing influence of China in the Pacific.

    In its engagement strategy, he said that China had combined its economic, diplomatic, military, and technological might to pursue “a sphere of influence in the Indo-Pacific and seeks to become the world’s most influential power”.

    During an eight-hour visit to Fiji, while returning from a Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) meeting in Australia, Blinken announced climate change financing, military and other exchange initiatives and plans for a new embassy in the Solomon Islands among other foreign diplomacy engagements.

    Blinken has been on a world tour for the past several months to discuss two main issues: covid-19 and China, with his counterparts including Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne, Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr S. Jaishankar and Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Hayashi Yoshimasa.

    New Indo-Pacific engagement strategy
    While in Fiji, Blinken met with acting Prime Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and 18 Pacific Island leaders virtually, during which he announced the US government’s brand new Indo-Pacific engagement strategy, calling the region “vital to our own prosperity, our own progress”.

    Blinken said that the new strategy was the result of a year of extensive engagement in the Asia Pacific region and would reflect US determination to strengthen its long-term position in the region.

    “We will focus on every corner of the region, from Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, to South Asia and Oceania, including the Pacific Islands,” he said.

    “We do so at a time when many of our allies and partners, including in Europe, are increasingly turning their own attention to the region; and when there is broad, bipartisan agreement in the U.S. Congress that the United States must, too.”

    This American refocus is a direct response to the increasing influence of China in the Pacific.

    Since 2006, Chinese trade and foreign aid to the Pacific has significantly increased. Beijing is now the third largest donor to the region.

    Although Chinese aid still represents only 8 percent of all foreign aid between 2011 and 2017 (according to The Lowy Institute), many Pacific island governments have favoured concessional loans from China, to finance large infrastructure developments.

    Chinese ‘coercion and aggression’
    In Solomon Islands, where Blinken announced the latest US Embassy would be opened, almost half of all two-way trade is with China.

    In describing China’s actions toward expanding its influence, Blinken stated:

    “The PRC’s coercion and aggression spans the globe, but it is most acute in the Indo-Pacific. From the economic coercion of Australia to the conflict along the Line of Actual Control with India to the growing pressure on Taiwan and bullying of neighbours in the East and South China Seas, our allies and partners in the region bear much of the cost of the PRC’s harmful behaviour.

    “In the process, the PRC is also undermining human rights and international law, including freedom of navigation, as well as other principles that have brought stability and prosperity to the Indo-Pacific.”

    When questioned by reporters about US intentions for “authentic engagement that speaks to the real needs of the islanders”, Blinken replied that the US sees the Pacific as the region for the future, and that their intentions were beyond mere security concerns.

    “It’s much more fundamental than that. When we are looking at this region that we share, we see it as the region for the future, vital to our own prosperity, our own progress.

    “Sixty per cent of global GDP is here, 50 percent of the world’s population is here. For all the challenges that we have, at the moment we’re working on together, it’s also a source of tremendous opportunity.”

    Democracy and transparency
    Blinken insisted that Washington’s new strategy was about using democracy and transparency to build a free and open Indo-Pacific which was committed to a “rules based order”.

    Moving onto economics, the Secretary of State stated that the US intends to forge partnerships and alliances within the region, which will include more work with ASEAN, APEC and the Pacific Islands Forum.

    Despite being headquartered in Fiji, the Forum was not invited to be part of Blinken’s visit.

    At the Pacific Leaders meeting, Blinken announced a commitment to deeper economic integration including measures to open market access for agricultural commodities from the islands.

    “It’s about connecting our countries together, deepening and stitching together different partnerships and alliances. It’s about building shared prosperity, with new approaches to economic integration, some of which we talked about today with high standards.”

    Washington’s new Indo Pacific engagement strategy also includes commitments to develop new approaches to trade, which meet high labour and environmental standards as well as to create more resilient and secure supply chains which are “diverse, open, and predictable.”

    Climate change strategy
    Regarding climate change, Blinken announced plans to divert substantial portions of the US$150 billion announced at COP26 last year to the Pacific and also plans to make shared investments in decarbonisation and clean energy.

    The Indo Pacific strategy announced commitments to “working with allies and partners to develop 2030 and 2050 targets, strategies, plans, and policies consistent with limiting global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius”.

    Blinken stated that the US was committed to reducing regional vulnerability to the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation.

    On security matters, Blinken said the Pacific could expect power derived from US alliances in other parts of the world to come to the islands.

    “The United States is increasingly speaking with one voice with our NATO allies and our G7 partners, when it comes to Indo Pacific matters, you can see the strength of that commitment to the Indo Pacific throughout the past year.”

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • 60,000 flee as West Papua conflict deepens, poses questions for region

    SPECIAL REPORT: By Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific journalist

    Armed conflict in West Papua continues to claim lives, displace tens of thousands of people and cause resentment at Indonesian rule.

    But despite ongoing calls for help, neighbouring countries in the Pacific Islands region remain largely silent and ineffectual in their response.

    This year, Indonesia’s military has increased operations to hunt down and respond to attacks by pro-independence fighters with West Papua National Liberation Army (WPNLA) which considers Indonesia an occupying force in its homeland.

    Since late 2018, several regencies in the Indonesian-ruled Papuan provinces have become mired in conflict, notably Nduga, Yahukimo, Intan Jaya, Puncak Jaya, Maybrat as well as Pegunungan Bintang regency on the international border with Papua New Guinea.

    The ongoing cycle of violence has created a steady trickle of deaths on both sides, and also among the many villages caught in the middle.

    Identifying the death toll is difficult, especially because Indonesian authorities restrict outside access to Papua.

    However, research by the West Papua Council of Churches points to at least 400 deaths due to the conflict in the aforementioned regencies since December 2018, including people who have fled their villages to escape military operations and then died due to the unavailability of food and medicine.

    ‘Some cross into PNG’
    “We have received reports that at least 60,000 Papuan people from our congregations have currently evacuated to the surrounding districts, including some who have crossed into Papua New Guinea,” says Reverend Socratez Sofyan Yoman, president of the Fellowship of Baptist Churches of West Papua.

    West Papuan villagers flee their homes due to armed conflict in Maybrat regency, September 2021.
    West Papuan villagers flee their homes due to the armed conflict in Maybrat regency, September 2021. Image: RNZ Pacific

    The humanitarian crisis which Yoman described has spilled over into Papua New Guinea, bringing its own security and pandemic threats to PNG border communities like Tumolbil village in remote Telefomin district.

    Reverend Yoman and others within the West Papua Council of Churches have made repeated calls for the government to pull back its forces.

    They seek a circuit-breaker to end to the conflict in Papua which remains based on unresolved grievances over the way Indonesia took control in the 1960s, and the denial of a legitimate self-determination for West Papuans.

    But it is not simply the war between Indonesia’s military and the Liberation Army or OPM fighters that has created ongoing upheavals for Papuans.

    This year has seen:

    • more arbitrary arrests and detention of Papuans for peaceful political expression;
    • treason charges for the same;
    • harassment of prominent human rights defenders;
    • more oil palm, mining and environmental degradation that threatens Papuans’ access to their land and forest;
    • a move by Indonesian lawmakers to extend an unpopular Special Autonomy Law roundly rejected by Papuans; and
    • a terror plot by alleged Muslim extremists in Merauke Regency in Papua’s south-east corner.
    Reverend Socratez Sofyan Yoman
    Reverend Socratez Sofyan Yoman … the Indonesian president and vice-president have “turned a blind eye and heart to the Papua confict”. Image: RNZ Pacific

    Not only the churches, but also Papuan customary representatives, civil society and the pro-independence movement have been calling for international help for many years, particularly for an intermediary to facilitate dialogue with Indonesia towards some sort of peaceful settlement.

    Groups frustrated with Jakarta
    The groups have expressed frustration about the way that Jakarta’s defensiveness over West Papua’s sovereignty leaves little room for solutions to end conflict in the New Guinea territory.

    On the other hand, Indonesian government officials point towards various major infrastructure projects in Papua as a sign that President Joko Widodo’s economic development campaign is creating improvements for local communities.

    Despite the risks of exacerbating the spread of covid-19 in Papua, Indonesia recently held the National Games in Jayapura, with President Widodo presiding over the opening and closing of the event, presenting it as a showcase of unity and development in the eastern region.

    “The president and vice-president of Indonesia while in Papua did not discuss the resolution of the protracted Papua conflict. They turned a blind eye and heart to the Papua confict,” says Reverend Yoman.

    Beyond the gloss of the Games, Papuans were still being taken in by authorities as treason suspects if they bore the colours of the banned Papuan Morning Star flag.

    Regional response
    At their last in-person summit before the pandemic, in 2019, Pacific Islands Forum leaders agreed to press Indonesia to allow the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights into Papua region in order for it to present them with an independent assessment of the rights situation in West Papua.

    Advocating for the UN visit, as a group in the Forum, appears to be as far out on a limb that regional countries — including Australia and New Zealand — are prepared to go on West Papua.

    However even before 2019, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights office had already been trying for years to send a team to Papua, and found it difficult securing Indonesia’s approval.

    That the visit has still not happened since the Forum push indicates that West Papua remains off limits to the international community as far as Jakarta is concerned, no matter how much it points to the pandemic as being an obstacle.

    Indonesian military forces conduct operations in Intan Jaya, Papua province.
    Indonesian military forces conduct operations in Intan Jaya, Papua province. Image: RNZ Pacific

    The question of how the Pacific can address the problem of West Papua is also re-emerging at the sub-regional level within the Melanesian Spearhead Group whose full members are PNG, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia’s Kanaks.

    The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) is looking to unlock the voice of its people at the regional level by applying again for full membership in the MSG, after its previous application had “disappeared”.

    The ULMWP’s representative in Vanuatu, Freddy Waromi, this month submitted the application at the MSG headquarters in Port Vila.

    No voice at the table
    The organisation already has observer status in the MSG, but as Waromi said, as observers they do not have a voice at the table.

    “When we are with observer status, we always just observe in the MSG meeting, we cannot voice our voice out.

    “But with the hope that we become a full member we can have a voice in MSG and even in Pacific Islands Forum and even other important international organisations.”

    Freddie Waromi, ULMWP representative in Vanuatu
    ULMWP representative in Vanuatu Freddie Waromi … “with the hope that we become a full member we can have a voice in MSG.” Image: RNZ Pacific

    Indonesia, which is an associate member of the MSG, opposes the ULMWP’s claim to represent West Papuans.

    “They’re still encouraging them (the MSG) not to accept us,” Waromi said of Jakarta.

    He said the conflict had not abated since he fled from his homeland into PNG in 1979, but only worsened.

    “Fighting is escalating now in the highlands region of West Papua – in Nduga, in Intan Jaya, in Wamena, in Paniai – all those places, fighting between Indonesian military and the National Liberation Army of West Papua has been escalating, it’s very bad now.”

    Vanuatu consistently strong
    Vanuatu is the only country in the Pacific Islands region whose government has consistently voiced strong support for the basic rights of West Papuans over the years. Other Melanesian countries have at times raised their voice, but the key neighbouring country of PNG has been largely silent.

    The governor of PNG’s National Capital District, Powes Parkop, this month in Parliament lambasted successive PNG governments for failing to develop a strong policy on West Papua.

    Powes Parkop, the governor of Papua New Guinea's National Capital District.
    Governor Powes Parkop of Papua New Guinea’s National Capital District … “We have adopted a policy that is shameful and unethical.” Image: Johnny Blades/RNZ Pacific

    He claimed that PNG’s long silence on the conflict had been based on fear, and a “total capitulation to Indonesian aggression and illegal occupation”.

    “We have adopted a policy that is shameful and unethical,” he said of PNG’s “friends to all, enemies to none” stance.

    “How do we sleep at night when the people on the other side are subject to so much violence, racism, deaths and destruction?

    “When are we going to summon the courage to talk and speak? Why are we afraid of Indonesia?”

    Parkop’s questions also apply to the Pacific region, where Indonesia’s diplomatic influence has grown in recent years, effectively quelling some of the support that the West Papua independence movement had enjoyed.

    Time is running out for West Papuans who may soon be a minority in their own land if Indonesian transmigration is left unchecked.

    Yet that doesn’t mean the conflict will fade. Until core grievances are adequately addressed, conflict can be expected to deepen in West Papua.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Pacific civil society groups slam New Caledonia ballot as ‘unjust … unfair’

    Asia Pacific Report newsdesk

    The French government’s decision to press ahead with the third and final referendum vote for self-determination in Kanaky New Caledonia was “unjust and unfair” for the Indigenous Kanak people, says a coalition of nine pan-Pacific civil society groups.

    The groups have also accused the French state of “colonial manoeuvring in the middle of a health crisis” to gain a “premeditated outcome”.

    “This process has been unjust, culturally insensitive, disingenuous and falls completely short of the spirit of the Noumea Accord. This referendum is clearly null and void,” said a statement by the Pacific Civil Society Organisations (CSO).

    “Despite numerous calls from state and non-state actors to postpone the referendum to 2022, the French government used its colonial manoeuvring in the middle of a health crisis — where almost half the population has tested positive for covid-19 — to arrive at a premeditated outcome.”

    The statement said the referendum was not consultative and it did not serve the “common good of the Kanaky population, who exercised their right to not participate in the pseudo-referendum”.

    “This non-participation of pro-independence indigenous people should have been a clear signal to France of the public mood, recognising that the poll results cannot be received as the genuine resolve of the Kanak people.

    “Unfortunately, it appears that there is a blindspot in Paris, where the results of the referendum are being celebrated as the legitimate will of the Kanaky New Caledonia population – although over 103,480 or more than 56 percent of the registered did not participate in the vote.

    Call for UN to ‘void’ referendum
    “We join the Indigenous people of Kanaky and other pro-independence activists and organisations in the region, such as the Melanesian Spearhead Group, in calling for the United Nations to declare the outcome of the referendum null and void.

    “We also call on the Pacific Islands Forum Ministerial Committee as observers to New Caledonia to ensure an independent, candid and just observation report of the referendum vote is made public.”

    The civil society coalition statement is enorsed by the Diverse Voices and Action (DIVA) for Equality, Fiji; Fiji Council of Social Services; Fiji Women’s Rights Movement; Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict–Pacific; Melanesian Indigenous Land Defence Alliance; Pacific Conference of Churches; Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG); Peace Movement Aotearoa; and Youngsolwara Pacific.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • New Caledonia votes to stay with France, but it’s a hollow victory that will only ratchet up tensions

    ANALYSIS: By David Robie, Auckland University of Technology

    “Loyalist” New Caledonians handed France the decisive victory in the third and final referendum on independence it wanted in Sunday’s vote.

    But it was a hollow victory, with pro-independence Kanaks delivering Paris a massive rebuke for its three-decade decolonisation strategy.

    The referendum is likely to be seen as a failure, a capture of the vote by settlers without the meaningful participation of the Indigenous Kanak people. Pacific nations are unlikely to accept this disenfranchising of Indigenous self-determination.

    In the final results on Sunday night, 96.49 percent said “non” to independence and just 3.51 percent “oui”. This was a dramatic reversal of the narrow defeats in the two previous plebiscites in 2018 and 2020.

    However, the negative vote in this final round was based on 43.9 percent turnout, in contrast to record 80 percent-plus turnouts in the two earlier votes. This casts the legitimacy of the vote in doubt, and is likely to inflame tensions.

    A Jean-Marie Tjibaou portrait at Tiendanite
    A Jean-Marie Tjibaou portrait in the background at Tiendanite village polling station. Image: Caledonia TV screenshot APR

    One of the telling results in the referendum was in Tiendanite, the traditional home village of celebrated Kanak independence leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou. He negotiated the original Matignon Accord in 1988, which put an end to the bloodshed that erupted during the 1980s after a similar failed referendum on independence. In his village, it was apparently a total boycott, with not a single vote registered.

    In the remote northern Belep islands, only 0.6 percent of residents cast a vote. On the island of Lifou in the mainly Kanak Loyalty Islands, some of the polling stations had no votes. In the Kanak strongholds of Canala and Hiènghene on the main island of Grande Terre, less than 2 percent of the population cast a vote.

    Macron criticised for pressing ahead with vote
    The result will no doubt be a huge headache for French President Emmanuel Macron, just months away from the French presidential elections next April. Critics are suggesting his insistence on pressing ahead with the referendum in defiance of the wide-ranging opposition could damage him politically.

    Electoral posters in Noumea
    Electoral posters advocating a “no” vote in the referendum in the capital Noumea. Image: Clotilde Richalet/AP

    However, Macron hailed the result in Paris, saying,

    Tonight, France is more beautiful because New Caledonia has decided to stay part of it.

    He said a “period of transition” would begin to build a common project “respecting the dignity of everyone”.

    Pro-independence Kanak parties had urged postponement of the referendum due to the COVID crisis in New Caledonia, and the fact the vote was not due until October 2022. The customary Kanak Senate, comprising traditional chiefs, had declared a mourning period of one year for the mainly Indigenous victims of the COVID surge in September that had infected more than 12,000 people and caused 280 deaths.

    While neighbouring Vanuatu also called for the referendum to be postponed, the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) provided a ministerial monitoring team. The influential Melanesian Spearhead Group (comprised of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia’s independence coalition), refused to recognise the “unilateral” referendum, saying this was

    a crucial time for Melanesian people in New Caledonia to decide their own future.

    A coalition of Pacific civil society organisations and movement leaders joined the opposition and condemned Paris for “ignoring” the impact the health crisis had

    on the ability of Kanaks to participate in the referendum and exercise their basic human right to self-determination.

    "Kanaky: "Racist vote - don't vote"
    “Racist vote – don’t vote” banners in a Kanak boycott protest. Image: Caledonia TV screenshot APR

    A trio of pro-independence advocates had also travelled to New York last week with New Caledonia Congress president Roch Wamytan and declared at the United Nations that a plebiscite without Kanak participation had no legitimacy and the independence parties would not recognise the result.

    Pro-independence leaders insist they will not negotiate with Paris until after the French presidential elections. They have also refused to see French Overseas Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who arrived in Noumea at the weekend. They regard the minister as pandering to the anti-independence leaders in the territory.

    Why is New Caledonia so important to France?
    Another referendum is now likely in mid-2023 to determine the territory’s future status within France, but with independence off the table.

    Some of France’s overseas territories, such as French Polynesia, have considerably devolved local powers. It is believed New Caledonia may now be offered more local autonomy than it has.

    New Caledonia is critically important to France’s projection of its Indo-Pacific economic and military power in the region, especially as a counterbalance to growing Chinese influence among independent Pacific countries. Its nickel mining industry and reserves, important for manufacturing stainless steel, batteries and mobile phones, and its maritime economic zone are important to Paris.

    Ironically, France’s controversial loss of a lucrative submarine deal with Australia in favour of a nuclear sub partnership with the US and UK enhanced New Caledonia’s importance to Paris.

    The governments in Australia and New Zealand have been cautious about the referendum, not commenting publicly on the vote. But a young Kanak feminist artist, Marylou Mahé, wrote an article widely published in New Zealand last weekend explaining why she and many others refused to take part in a vote considered “undemocratic and disrespectful” of Kanak culture.

    As a young Kanak woman, my voice is often silenced, but I want to remind the world that we are here, we are standing, and we are acting for our future. The state’s spoken word may die tomorrow, but our right to recognition and self-determination never will.The Conversation

    Dr David Robie is associate editor, Pacific Journalism Review / Te Koakoa, Auckland University of Technology. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Dan McGarry: It’s how, not who in Melanesian politics

    THE VILLAGE EXPLAINER: By Dan McGarry in Port Vila

    One of the key characteristics of Melanesian politics is its ability to remain formless and chaotic right up until the point where, after a strange and often obscure catalysing moment, it abruptly transforms itself.

    More than a few people will attribute Solomon Islands’ recent tragic political confrontation to Manasseh Sogavare, his decision to end diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and his intolerance in the face of Malaitan grievance.

    Sogavare has a reputation for intransigence. He can be downright pugnacious when confronted. More than a few people have laid at least part of the blame for the 2000 coup at his feet.

    But that misunderstands who he is, and how he’s managed to remain one of the most enduring characters on the Solomon Islands political scene.

    Sogavare began his career as a tea boy smartly saluting the White-socked British administrators. He is extremely proud to have become the one they salute.

    The diplomatic switch
    Those who insist on seeing the current crisis in geopolitical terms misunderstand his role in the diplomatic switch, and his approach to politics.

    Sogavare is two things:

    • He is headstrong. His rise to power is punctuated by confrontation and inflexibility. He entered politics because the PM of the day sacked him from his role as Permanent Secretary of Finance. His first term as Prime Minister was fraught with violence and hatred.
    • He is a technocrat. He will seek pragmatic solutions that are conspicuously absent of ideology, or even consistency, when circumstances dictate.

    When Solomon Islands held the chair of the Melanesian Spearhead Group in 2015, he played a decisive role in brokering the awkward compromise that saw the MSG simultaneously elevate Indonesia’s status in the organisation and welcome the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, or ULMWP, into the fold.

    If he had allowed it, the matter of membership would have gone to a vote, and the vote would have split the organisation irrevocably. Instead he found a consensus solution, albeit one that defies an intellectually consistent explanation.

    This is precisely the pitfall that, if backchannel accounts are accurate, Australia led the Pacific Islands Forum into when they called for the selection of the next secretary-general to be put to a vote.

    Always an outsider
    Born in Papua New Guinea to missionary parents from Choiseul province, he’s always been an outsider and an individualist. His lack of constituency has become his stock in trade. It’s precisely because he’s not burdened by party or policy that he continually bobs to the top of the Solomon Islands political elite.

    If you had asked anyone about his stance toward China in the lead-up to the diplomatic split from Taiwan, you would likely have heard that he opposed recognition of China. But that didn’t stop him from unreservedly attacking Taiwan for its failure to address his country’s development needs.

    The critique wasn’t unmerited. For decades, Taiwan elevated its ties to the political elite over its role as a development partner. The much-maligned Constituency Development Funds that have gained outsized influence over national politics were seeded by Taiwan.

    CDFs are one of the key drivers of electoral corruption in the country. A close observer of Solomon Islands politics recently told me that to get elected in Solomon Islands now, you have to be either rich, or an MP.

    Incumbency rates increased markedly since the CDFs were made a core component in the budget process.

    It took Taiwan years to begin unhitching itself from this albatross. When they did, they left an opening for China to fill. And, in spite of their own reluctance to become stuck in the same corruption and mire that Taiwan had only just emerged from, the prize was too big to forego.

    Claiming that Sogavare drove this process ignores the power of Parliament. He knew which way they were going, and he knew what he had to do if he was going to keep his hand on the wheel.

    And that’s why he did what he did.

    Distrust of Malaitan politicians
    His distrust of senior Malaitan politicians, and his apparent willingness to use dirty tricks to remove them, are well known. It’s hard to defend many of the decisions he’s made along the way.

    But it is possible to understand and explain them.

    Manasseh Sogavare is a party of one. He retains his hold on the highest office not in spite of this, but because of it. He presents no ideological or policy threat to any of the other MPs.

    It’s precisely because of his mechanistic, arguably amoral approach to politics that he remains one of the most enduring faces on the Solomon Islands political scene.

    That hardly raises him above criticism. But it should serve as a caution to anyone who naively thinks that removing him will solve the nation’s problems — or that the nation’s political problems can be solved by a policy, a party or a single man.

    The question is not who can salve this wound afflicting Solomons society, but how these peoples can heal themselves.

    The divisions that have fuelled this most recent rupture are deep. They span decades. To think that a bit of parliamentary musical chairs will be sufficient to fix it is folly. To think that some other smart, independent man of deep conviction is going to be able to put things to rights is to ignore the evidence right in front of our eyes.

    How will history judge Sogavare? I’ll leave the last words to him. When I asked him back in 2015 about the prospect for continued violence and unrest, he said:

    “We’ve been through this three times now. And if I haven’t learned anything from 2006, then… I have myself to blame.”

    Dan McGarry was previously media director at Vanuatu Daily Post/Buzz FM96. The Village Explainer is his semi-regular newsletter containing analysis and insight focusing on under-reported aspects of Pacific societies, politics and economics. His articles are republished by Asia Pacific Report with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Glasgow showdown: Pacific Islands demand global leaders bring action, not excuses, to UN summit

    ANALYSIS: By Wesley Morgan, Griffith University

    The Pacific Islands are at the frontline of climate change. But as rising seas threaten their very existence, these tiny nation states will not be submerged without a fight.

    For decades this group has been the world’s moral conscience on climate change. Pacific leaders are not afraid to call out the climate policy failures of far bigger nations, including regional neighbour Australia.

    And they have a strong history of punching above their weight at United Nations climate talks — including at Paris, where they were credited with helping secure the first truly global climate agreement.

    COP26 GLASGOW 2021

    The momentum is with Pacific island countries at next month’s summit in Glasgow, and they have powerful friends. The United Kingdom, European Union and United States all want to see warming limited to 1.5℃.

    This powerful alliance will turn the screws on countries dragging down the global effort to avert catastrophic climate change. And if history is a guide, the Pacific won’t let the actions of laggard nations go unnoticed.

    A long fight for survival
    Pacific leaders’ agitation for climate action dates back to the late 1980s, when scientific consensus on the problem emerged. The leaders quickly realised the serious implications global warming and sea-level rise posed for island countries.

    Some Pacific nations — such as Kiribati, Marshall Islands and Tuvalu — are predominantly low-lying atolls, rising just metres above the waves. In 1991, Pacific leaders declared “the cultural, economic and physical survival of Pacific nations is at great risk”.

    Successive scientific assessments clarified the devastating threat climate change posed for Pacific nations: more intense cyclones, changing rainfall patterns, coral bleaching, ocean acidification, coastal inundation and sea-level rise.

    Pacific states developed collective strategies to press the international community to take action. At past UN climate talks, they formed a diplomatic alliance with island nations in the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean, which swelled to more than 40 countries.

    People stand in water with spears
    Climate change is a threat to the survival of Pacific Islanders. Image: Mick Tsikas/AAP/The Conversation

    The first draft of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol – which required wealthy nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – was put forward by Nauru on behalf of this Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

    Securing a global agreement in Paris
    Pacific states were also crucial in negotiating a successor to the Kyoto Protocol in Paris in 2015.

    By this time, UN climate talks were stalled by arguments between wealthy nations and developing countries about who was responsible for addressing climate change, and how much support should be provided to help poorer nations to deal with its impacts.

    In the months before the Paris climate summit, then Marshall Islands Foreign Minister, the late Tony De Brum, quietly coordinated a coalition of countries from across traditional negotiating divides at the UN.

    This was genius strategy. During talks in Paris, membership of this “High Ambition Coalition” swelled to more than 100 countries, including the European Union and the United States, which proved vital for securing the first truly global climate agreement.

    When then US President Barack Obama met with island leaders in 2016, he noted “we could not have gotten a Paris Agreement without the incredible efforts and hard work of island nations”.

    The High Ambition Coalition secured a shared temperature goal in the Paris Agreement, for countries to limit global warming to 1.5℃ above the long-term average. This was no arbitrary figure.

    Scientific assessments have clarified 1.5℃ warming is a key threshold for the survival of vulnerable Pacific Island states and the ecosystems they depend on, such as coral reefs.

    Coral reef with island in background
    Warming above 1.5℃ threatens Pacific Island states and their coral reefs. Image: Shutterstock/The Conversation

    De Brum took a powerful slogan to Paris: “1.5 to stay alive”.

    The Glasgow summit is the last chance to keep 1.5℃ of warming within reach. But Australia – almost alone among advanced economies – is taking to Glasgow the same 2030 target it took to Paris six years ago.

    This is despite the Paris Agreement requirement that nations ratchet up their emissions-reduction ambition every five years.

    Australia is the largest member of the Pacific Islands Forum (an intergovernmental group that aims to promote the interests of countries and territories in the Pacific). But it is also a major fossil fuel producer, putting it at odds with other Pacific countries on climate.

    When Australia announced its 2030 target, De Brum said if the rest of the world followed suit:

    the Great Barrier Reef would disappear […] so would the Marshall Islands and other vulnerable nations.

    Influence at Glasgow
    So what can we expect from Pacific leaders at the Glasgow summit? The signs so far suggest they will demand COP26 deliver an outcome to once and for all limit global warming to 1.5℃.

    At pre-COP discussions in Milan earlier this month, vulnerable nations proposed countries be required to set new 2030 targets each year until 2025 — a move intended to bring global ambition into alignment with a 1.5℃ pathway.

    COP26 president Alok Sharma says he wants the decision text from the summit to include a new agreement to keep 1.5℃ within reach.

    This sets the stage for a showdown. Major powers like the US and the EU are set to work with large negotiating blocs, like the High Ambition Coalition, to heap pressure on major emitters that have yet to commit to serious 2030 ambition – including China, India, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Australia.

    The chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, Fiji’s Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, has warned Pacific island countries “refuse to be the canary in the world’s coal mine”.

    According to Bainimarama:

    by the time leaders come to Glasgow, it has to be with immediate and transformative action […] come with commitments for serious cuts in emissions by 2030 – 50 percent or more. Come with commitments to become net-zero before 2050. Do not come with excuses. That time is past.The Conversation

    Dr Wesley Morgan, researcher, Climate Council, and research fellow, Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • AUKUS pact strikes at heart of Pacific nuclear-free regionalism

    By Johnny Blades, RNZ Pacific reporter

    Australia’s new security pact with the US and the UK has touched a nerve at the core of Pacific regionalism.

    The AUKUS alliance, announced by leaders of the three countries last week, finds them seeking strategic advantage in the Indo-Pacific region with a focus on developing nuclear-powered submarines for the Australian Navy.

    Announcing the pact via video link with Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his British counterpart Boris Johnson, US president Joe Biden said it was about enhancing their collective ability to take on the threats of the 21st century.

    Recalled French ambassador Jean-Pierre Thebault … angry words for journalists on the way to Canberra airport. Image: AJ screenshot APR

    France has recalled its ambassadors to the US and Australia for consultations, in a “Pacific” backlash over a submarine deal after Canberra cancelled a multibillion-dollar deal for conventional French submarines, reports Al Jazeera.

    President Biden declared: “Today we’re taking another historic step, to deepen and formalise co-operation among all three of our nations, because we all recognise the imperative of ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific over the long term.

    “We need to be able to address both the current strategic environment in the region, and how it may evolve.”

    Describing this threat as rapidly evolving, Biden said AUKUS was launching consultations on Australia’s acquisition of conventionally armed submarines powered by nuclear reactors. The president emphasised that the subs would not be nuclear-armed.

    Serious concern for Pacific
    But the general secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches, Reverend James Bhagwan, said the move towards nuclear submarines was a serious concern for a region still dealing with the fallout from nuclear weapons tests.

    “Three weeks ago, the current chair of Pacific Islands Forum, the Prime Minister of Fiji (Voreqe Bainimarama) reiterated that we want a Blue Pacific that is nuclear free. It’s at the heart of Pacific regionalism,” he said.

    The general secretary of the Pacific Council of Churches, James Bhagwan.
    The general secretary of the Pacific Council of Churches, Reverend James Bhagwan … “We are still dealing with the fallout from nuclear testing.” Image: Jamie Tahana/RNZ

    “From the Sixties, from when the very first tests started in our region, this is something that government, civil society, churches have all been very adamant against, to keep our Pacific nuclear-free. We are still dealing with the fallout from nuclear testing.”

    However, Morrison said it was time to take the partnership between the three nations to a “new level”, noting that “our world is becoming more complex, especially here in our region, the Indo-Pacific”, a sign of the alliance’s growing angst over China.

    But the move towards nuclear submarines confronts the spirit of a nuclear-free zone that Pacific regional countries signed up to decades ago.

    Furthermore, the pact comes as the Pacific Islands Forum continues to protest about Japan’s plans to dump treated nuclear waste water into the ocean from the Fukushima power plant, that was damaged in an earthquake and tsunami 10 years ago.

    Taken by surprise
    The Federated States of Micronesia, a country with close ties to the US, was diplomatic in conveying how the pact caught it by surprise.

    A spokesperson for the FSM government said it had “trust, faith and confidence” in the US and Australia in their promotion, and protection, of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific

    “It can safely be assumed that the United States and Australia are making security decisions with the best interests of the Pacific in mind, because our vitality is their vitality. That said, this news is a surprise.

    “Micronesia is confident this decision makes our country safer, but Micronesia also looks forward to learning more about how precisely that is the case.”

    Regional figure: Fiji prime minister Frank Bainimarama at the Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders summit in Noumea in 2013.
    Regional figure … as Pacific Forum chairman, Fiji’s Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimara has outlined the regional aim for a nuclear-free Blue Pacific. Image: Johnny Blades/RNZ

    Rather than loss of business, Pacific Islands are more concerned about existential loss, having first hand experience of nuclear testing by French, American and British.

    “The ocean impacts on our life,” Reverend Bhagwan said.

    “We are the fish basket of the world. So if one submarine comes in and something goes wrong and the nuclear waste from that submarine gets into our ocean, that’s too much already.”

    Pacific interests
    Reverend Bhagwan questioned how the pact stacked up with Scott Morrison’s claims that Australia considered Pacific Islands countries as vuvale, or family.

    “This is our Pacific way. Sometimes we don’t agree, but we always act in the best interests, we always come and support one another,” he said.

    “This is not Australia acting in the best interests of the rest of its Pacific Vuvale.”

    China has described the pact as being detrimental to regional peace and stability.

    Relations between Beijing and Canberra are at an all-time low, and a spokesman for the Chinese government urged Australia to think carefully whether to treat China as a partner or a threat.

    New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the prohibition of nuclear-powered vessels in its waters remained unchanged, adding that the pact “in no way changes our security and intelligence ties with these three countries”.

    She said New Zealand was first and foremost a nation of the Pacific which viewed foreign policy developments through the lens of what is in the best interest of the region.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Narrow window to halt climate change catastrophe, says Pacific Forum chief

    RNZ Pacific

    The world is on the brink of a climate catastrophe, with just a narrow window for action to reverse global processes predicted to cause devastating effects in the Pacific and world-wide, says the leader of the 18-nation Pacific Islands Forum.

    Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna said a major UN scientific report released on Monday backed what the Blue Pacific continent already knew — that the planet was in the throes of a human-induced climate crisis.

    The report from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) described a “code red” warning for humanity.

    Puna said a major concern was sea level change; the report said a rise of 2 metres by the end of this century, and a disastrous rise of 5 metres rise by 2150 could not be ruled out.

    The report also found that extreme sea level events that previously occurred once in 100 years could happen every year by the end of this century.

    To put this into perspective, these outcomes were predicted to result in the loss of millions of lives, homes and livelihoods across the Pacific and the world.

    The IPCC said extreme heatwaves, droughts, flooding and other environmental instability were also likely to increase in frequency and severity.

    Governments cannot ignore voices
    Puna said governments, big business and the major emitters of the world could no longer ignore the voices of those already enduring the unfolding existential crisis.

    “They can no longer choose rhetoric over action. There are simply no more excuses to be had. Our actions today will have consequences now and into the future for all of us to bear.”

    The 2019 Pacific Islands Forum Kainaki Lua Declaration remained a clarion call for urgent climate action, he said.

    The call urged the UN to do more to persuade industrial powers to cut their carbon emissions to reduce contributing to climate change.

    However, Puna said the factors affecting climate change could be turned around if people acted now.

    “The 6th IPCC Assessment Report shows us that the science is clear. We know the scale of the climate crisis we are facing. We also have the solutions to avoid the worst of climate change impacts.

    “What we need now is political leadership and momentum to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.”

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Micronesian leaders boycott Forum, stand firm on plan to leave bloc

    By Bernadette Carreon of Pacific Island Times

    Four Micronesian leaders skipped the Pacific Islands Forum’s 51st virtual session yesterday, in a continuing protest over the organisation’s refusal to assign the leadership post to the subregion as previously agreed.

    Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama’s official apology proved not convincing enough to break the impasse and appease the Micronesian leaders.

    The Micronesian nations — Palau, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati and Nauru — declined to reconsider their collective decision to exit from the regional body if the gentleman’s agreement was not honoured.

    Nauru President Lionel Aingimea, chair of the Micronesian Presidents’ Summit (MPS), was the only leader from the breakaway group who attended today’s meeting, where PIF discussed a planned in-person leaders’ retreat scheduled for 2022.

    In a statement issued after the meeting, Aingimea said Micronesian leaders “are standing on the principles of the Mekreos Communique” and “are not attending the retreat”.

    “The Mekreos Communique articulates that if the long-standing gentlemen’s agreement is not honoured, then the Micronesian presidents see no benefit in remaining with PIF,” Aingimea said.

    The Mekreos Communique
    The Mekreos Communique

    The Mekreos Communique is a declaration signed by Palau, FSM, Marshall Islands, Nauru and Kiribati in 2020.

    Micronesians support Zackios
    The Micronesian leaders maintain that their candidate, Ambassador Gerald M. Zackios, must assume the secretary-general position in line with the gentlemen’s agreement’ for sub-regional rotation.

    “Presidents agreed that the solidarity and integrity of the PIF are strengthened by the gentlemen’s agreement, that this issue is one of respect and Pacific unity, and that it is non-negotiable for the Member States. Presidents agreed that in the ‘Pacific Way’, a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ is an agreement, and if this agreement is not honoured, then the presidents would see no benefit to remaining in the PIF,” the Mekreos Communique stated.

    Nauru, FSM, RMI and Palau commenced the process for withdrawal from the PIF in February 2021 and will take effect by February 2022.

    The 51st Pacific Islands Forum Leaders virtual meeting today also coincided with the 50th Anniversary of the Pacific Islands Forum.

    Nauru is a founding member of the Forum, along with six others — Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Tonga and Western Samoa (now Samoa).

    Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano handed over as Forum Chair to host leader of the 51st Pacific Islands Forum, Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama.

    Bainarama welcomed Secretary-General Henry Puna and said they were looking forward to working with him.

    Samoan PM welcomed
    Bainarama also welcomed Samoa’s new Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mata-afa to the meeting.

    While the forum celebrates 50 years of milestones, it is also facing a crisis with the looming fracture of the regional body.

    Bainarama apologised anew to the Micronesian head of states over the PIF secretariat leadership row.

    “To our Micronesian brothers, I offer my deepest apology, we could have handled the situation better, but I remain confident that we will find a way forward together,”

    “I hope this meeting provides an avenue for frank dialogue,” Bainarama said.

    He said he did not expect a resolution of the rift yesterday but he said the forum would continue dialogue with the Micronesian leaders.

    “None of us can do this alone,” he said, and urged solidarity and to retain Pacific regionalism, especially on the issue of climate change and covid-19-related economic crisis.

    Puna in his statement said the region was in the midst of “unprecedented challenges” of covid pandemic, climate change, and geopolitical interests.

    He also cited the challenges the forum is facing among the members.

    “Our bond as one forum family is being put to the extreme test,” Puna said.

    But he was hopeful that the members would stay together with continued dialogue.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • ‘We’re sorry,’ Pacific Forum chair tells Micronesia over SG post

    By Pita Ligaiula in Suva

    Fiji’s Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama used his inaugural speech as the new chair of the Pacific Islands Forum to offer an apology to the Micronesian members of the Pacific grouping who were angered by the way the Forum rejected their nominee for the Forum Secretary-General’s job.

    “I offer you my deepest apology,” said Bainimarama at the handover ceremony done virtually at the start of the 51st Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ retreat today.

    “We could have handled it better,” he added.

    All five Micronesian members of the Forum – Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru and Palau – announced the decision to withdraw from the Pacific leaders group soon after the leaders decision last February to appoint Henry Puna — former prime minister of Cook Islands — as the new Forum SG, ahead of Micronesia’s candidate, Ambassador Gerald Zakios from the Marshall Islands.

    The Micronesians had argued that it was Micronesia’s turn to nominate one of their own for the SG position, succeeding Dame Meg Taylor of Papua New Guinea.

    At the start of today’s Forum Leaders’ retreat, only Nauru’s President Lionel Aingimea was present.

    Outgoing Pacific Islands Forum chair Kausea Natano, who is Prime Minister of Tuvalu, made mention of the Micronesians in his handover address, and although he gave no clue as to whether his attempts to win back the Micronesians into the Forum had had any success, he stressed “unity and solidarity” for the Pacific regional bloc.

    Pacific Way
    He believes the Pacific Way of talanoa and dialogue as the way forward to resolving the impasse between the northern Micronesian nations and their southern Pacific neighbours.

    The dialogue should be “frank and respectful”, he said.

    Prime Minister Natano also spoke about the need for the islands of the Pacific to stay the course on climate change, that their voices ought to be “united and loud”.

    He also wanted Pacific Islands Forum unity in opposing Japan’s plans to dump contaminated nuclear waste into the Pacific Ocean.

    Both Scott Morrison of Australia and Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand were at the opening of the Leaders Retreat this morning, as well as the Pacific Islands Forum’s newest member, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, Prime Minister of Samoa.

    Prime Minister Bainimarama congratulated Prime Minister Fiame by stating that while her coming into office was “not easy,” her achievement was still a proud milestone.

    As the new Forum chair, and recalling his navigation days as a navy boat commander, Bainimarama said the Forum’s 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent would be the “northern star” in charting the work of the regional body.

    Blue Pacific strategy
    The strategy is on the agenda of the leaders’ one-day retreat today together with a common position on the incoming climate change negotiations in COP26 in Scotland in October, as well as a review of a joint forum action on combatting covid-19.

    Due to the closure of international borders, all these discussions are held over zoom, although another leaders’ retreat is planned for January next year, by which time Fiji hopes its international borders would be open, and the Pacific Leaders would be able to attend the meeting in person.

    In addition to speeches of the outgoing and incoming chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, this morning’s opening of the 51st Leaders retreat was also addressed by the new Forum Secretary General Henry Puna, as well as an address via video by United States President Joe Biden.

    A video to mark the 50th anniversary of the Pacific Islands Forum was also screened.

    Pita Ligaiula is a journalist with the Pacnews regional cooperative news agency.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Australia, NZ criticised for ‘silence’ over recognition for Samoa’s Fiame

    Pacific Media Watch newsdesk

    Australia and New Zealand are being urged to follow the lead of the Federated States of Micronesia, and recognise Fiame Naomi Mata’afa as Samoa’s Prime Minister, reports Pacnews.

    But neither Australia nor New Zealand are showing any signs of making such a declaration, with both governments towing the diplomatic line of urging all parties to “uphold the rule of law and respect the democratic process”.

    In a similar vein, Henry Puna’s first statement since taking over as Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum, says the Forum family encourages all parties to pursue peaceful means to resolve their difficulties

    But Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) President David Panuelo is not afraid to back Fiame, and he is unhappy with Australia and New Zealand’s approach, says ABC Pacific Beat.

    “The FSM announced its support for the newly sworn-in Prime Minister Fiame for the same reasons that we denounce former US president Donald Trump for his embrace of fascism and rejection of democracy,” Panuelo said.

    Pacnews reports that he urged other democratic countries to show their support for Samoa’s elected leader.

    “Australia and New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands Forum for that matter, all have important economic and cultural ties with Samoa [but] I can disagree with them for being silent for now,” Panuelo said.

    Senator Heine congratulates Fiame
    The Pacific’s first female head of state, Senator Hilda Heine of the Marshall Islands, has tweeted her congratulations to Fiame, calling her the duly elected PM of Samoa.

    Solomon Islands’ Opposition leader Matthew Wale also tweeted his disappointment.

    “PIF Leaders should be consulting re Biketawa and possible solutions. The longer this impasse drags, the higher the risk to the integrity of Samoa’s democratic institutions”.

    Journalist and longtime editor of the Samoa Observer, Mata’afa Keni Lesa agrees, saying “it’s very important for the international community to not only keep an eye on what’s happening in Samoa but step in and say the right things”.

    “They cannot be silent on what’s happening in Samoa, because otherwise we’ve seen the examples of what’s happening in other Pacific countries,” he told the ABC’s Pacific Beat.

    “Despite what has happened, we are still peaceful and I think there’s still time…this situation can still be salvaged if the right pressure is applied from overseas, knowing how important aid and all the benefits that Samoa gains from the international community, he said.

    UN calls for dialogue
    The United Nations has called for dialogue in Samoa, reports Pacnews.

    UN Secretary-General António Guterres has been following developments since the elections, according to a statement issued by his spokesperson.

    “He urges the leaders in Samoa to find solutions to the current political situation through dialogue in the best interest of the people and institutions of Samoa”, it said.

    “The United Nations stands ready to provide support to Samoa if requested by the parties.”

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Samoa incumbent leader needs to ‘get a grip’, says PM-elect Fiame

    RNZ News

    Samoa’s Prime Minister-elect says she does not think the accusation of treason by the incumbent leader holds sway and suggested he his having a hard time letting go of power.

    Samoa’s Attorney-General has filed a complaint with the Supreme Court, claiming yesterday’s ad-hoc swearing in of the FAST party MPs was unconstitutional.

    The Supreme Court heard it for mention this afternoon, and set down a hearing for Thursday at noon.

    The Attorney-General named the FAST party leader, Prime Minister-elect Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, all of the party’s MPs and their lawyers as respondents.

    In a statement last night threatening action, the Attorney-General’s Office said those who had conducted the ad-hoc swearing in ceremony held yesterday afternoon had no legal authority.

    But today, FAST was maintaining that it is now the government – it has a majority, and was forced to act by the Head of State and parliamentary officials’ defying orders by the Supreme Court.

    Incumbent Prime Minister Tuila’epa Sailele Malielegaoi was not backing down either, today again calling the FAST party’s actions a coup.

    FAST barred from Parliament
    FAST had been barred from entering the Parliament building after Tuila’epa, who has been Prime Minister for 23 years and leader of the defeated Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP), which had been in power for about four decades, directed the Speaker to lock the doors.

    Under the constitution, Parliament must sit within 45 days of an election and yesterday was the last day for this to be possible.

    Fiame spoke to RNZ Pacific’s Don Wiseman this evening and said she did not think the accusation of treason, made by Tuila’epa yesterday, was a serious one.

    “You might have recalled at the last Parliament he was throwing those threats at the four of us. We were the sole opposition in the House,” she said.

    “Treason, it’s very well defined. It has a lot to do with killing people or plotting to kill people, having full frontal physical attacks. It’s nothing like that.

    “So I think he just likes to stoke the fire and throw in big words like treason. I don’t think that [his accusation] is very serious.

    Incumbent Prime Minister Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi
    Incumbent Prime Minister Tuila’epa Sailele Malielegaoi … not backing down, today again calling the FAST party’s actions “a coup”. Image: APR screenshot

    Tuila’epa today suggested the judiciary had a bias towards Fiame, partly due to a family relation. Fiame said he “needs to get a grip.”

    “It’s not a matter of bias. It’s a matter of the merit of the issues and the cases brought before the court.”

    Bad legal advice
    She suggested Tuila’epa was either getting bad legal advice or having lawyers tell him what he wanted to hear.

    “Unfortunately, the lawyers are people in their official capacities, they’re not private lawyers for the HRPP.

    “They’re sort of running the show for him. In fact if there’s anything more concerning for me, it’s that these public officials are not able to play their role and functions in an independent and impartial way. They’re just toeing the line.”

    Fiame said Tuila’epa was getting to the end of a long career and suggested he was having trouble letting go.

    “The thing that really happened, first and foremost, is that he was getting to that point in that long and distinguished career where he thought he was, you know, omnipotent and could now do whatever he liked. Now, he’s gone from being ‘chosen by God‘ to setting himself up as very god-like.

    “The second thing, I think, was that before the election he was making predictions of having another landslide victory. So when the results came out I think that was quite a dire shock for him.”

    A FAST "thank you" ceremony in Apia
    A “thank you” ceremony in Apia today for the supporters of the FAST party. Image: APR screenshot

    On where the situation with the Parliament is at now, Fiame pointed out that HRPP MPs also faced a conundrum.

    Issue of 25 HRPP MPs
    “So I would imagine that if things return to normality, whether there is a formal recognition of that process, and just transferred into the records of parliament, or whether we have another… because of course the other issue is what happens to the other 25 HRPP MPs? Are they in fact invalid or now voided by the fact that they weren’t sworn in by the deadline. So that’s another issue that’s in abeyance.”

    Fiame and two other members of the majority party appeared in court in Apia this morning where they pled not guilty to a private prosecution brought by Tuila’epa.

    The legality of yesterday’s ceremony is still in question but a legal expert today told RNZ that FAST did not carry out a “coup”.

    “Rather, they acted in a way which was necessary to prevent one,” Fuimaono Dylan Asafo wrote.

    “By refusing to attend the first meeting of the new Parliament, it was the Head of State who first and foremost breached the relevant constitutional procedures and any relevant standing orders.”

    Samoa government building, Apia.
    Samoa government building, Apia. Image: Johnny Blades/RNZ

    Prayers for peace
    The Pacific Conference of Churches this morning called on its member churches around the region to pray for peace and justice to prevail in Samoa, with general secretary Reverend James Bhagwan saying the situation was quite concerning.

    “Particularly the to and fro between the political parties,” he said.

    “I am not a political commentator in any way but we can see there is a need for this to be resolved and we hope that that can be done in a manner that finds resonance with the people of Samoa.”

    New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs today issued a statement calling on all parties to uphold the rule of law and respect the democratic process.

    “We are willing to offer support to Samoa should that be useful during this complex period,” it said.

    However, MFAT declined to answer a direct question about whether it recognised yesterday’s swearing-in ceremony as legal and official.

    NZ faith in Samoan democracy
    It would only say New Zealand “respects Samoa’s sovereignty and the mana of its democratic institutions, including the courts which have an important democratic and constitutional role” and that it recognised the “combined wisdom and experience of traditional and church leaders who will want to see a peaceful outcome”.

    New Zealand “looked forward to working with a democratically elected” government, said the statement.

    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she had not spoken to the leader of either party since the election.

    “We’ve joined with many others in just restating our faith in Samoa’s democracy,” Ardern said.

    “It falls upon those within Samoa to demonstrate their faith in their own democracy too.”

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was looking forward to working with a democratically elected government of Samoa.

    Pacific Islands Forum ready to help, says Puna
    The Pacific Islands Forum is urging all parties in Samoa to find a peaceful resolution to the current deadlock.

    Its incoming Secretary-General Henry Puna said forum members were closely following events in Samoa, and the group was willing to offer support and step in to help if asked.

    Puna, who is the former Cook Islands prime minister, also called for a moment of reflection and solidarity across the Forum for the people of Samoa, where post-election events were making global headlines.

    “I ask each of us across our member nations to keep the people of Samoa in our thoughts and prayers at this time, knowing that Samoa’s sovereign process and the world-renowned Fa’a Samoa will prevail at this critical moment in their history.”

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Surprise apology to Micronesia over Forum leadership election row

    RNZ Pacific

    Micronesian leaders have received an apology from their colleagues in the Pacific Islands Forum.

    In what has been described as a frank and open political dialogue on Monday the Forum leaders aimed to heal the wounds caused by the selection of the Cook Islands’ Henry Puna as the new secretary-general of the agency.

    Micronesia’s leaders believed they had a commitment that their candidate, Gerald Zackios from the Marshall Islands, would be named secretary-general.

    In February, the five Micronesian members of the Forum announced they would leave in protest at the selection.

    But in a virtual meeting, dubbed the Troika Plus dialogue, on Monday, the Micronesian leaders heard apologies from Papua New Guinea’s James Marape, Fiji’s Voreqe Bainimarama, Samoa’s Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Mailielegaoi and the outgoing Secretary-General Dame Meg Taylor.

    The leaders expressed regret and acknowledged that the situation could have been managed differently and better.

    ‘Secure regional solidarity’
    The Forum chair, Tuvalu Prime Minister, Kausea Natano, reminded the leaders the dialogue was to listen to the concerns and issues of the Micronesian presidents and to “secure the solidarity of our region.”

    Nauru’s President Aingimea was deeply thankful and moved by the depth of sincerity in an apology that he said “resonates deep within my heart.”

    “Leadership is shown at times like this and to the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, the Prime Minister of Samoa, and the Prime Minister of Fiji, you have shown yourselves to be able leaders; wise leaders, in bringing words like this to us here,” he said.

    Marape appealed to Micronesia not to leave the Forum and encouraged the leaders to “break bread” and right the wrong.

    He reiterated his choice in voting with Micronesia at the election of the PIF secretary-general, and urges that in the interest of regional solidarity the election of the secretary general should be on rotation even if it was not a written agreement, for what he describes as for brotherhood.

    Samoa’s Tuila’epa said the meeting came at an opportune time and that more time for discussion could have reached an appropriate way out.

    Are apologies too little, too late?
    Palau’s president says apologies from some Pacific Islands Forum leaders this week is a step in the right direction but more action is needed.

    The apologies follow the public falling out with Micronesian states earlier this year over their preferred candidate for the Forum’s secretary general’s post, Gerald Zackios, being snubbed for Cook Islands’ Henry Puna.

    On Monday, the leaders of Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Samoa acknowledged the situation could have been managed better.

    Surangel Whipps Jr says he believes they are genuine and heartfelt, but that the Micronesian leader’s position remains the same and they need more than an apology to return to the Forum.

    “I don’t think any of us are coming back to the Forum unless we see change. We’ve made that position clear and that continues to be our position, and I think the Troika understands that. So, we’ve officially withdrawn and I would assume that no one’s going back unless change happens.”

    RNZ Pacific’s correspondent in the Marshall Islands, Giff Johnson, says the apologies are probably too little, too late.

    “Given the feelings that were expressed around the time of the vote, a couple of months back, and just the fallout that developed … in some ways it was perhaps unfortunate that people had painted themselves into a corner on it, in the lead-up to the secretary general vote,” he said.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Surprise apology to Micronesia over Forum leadership election row

    RNZ Pacific

    Micronesian leaders have received an apology from their colleagues in the Pacific Islands Forum.

    In what has been described as a frank and open political dialogue on Monday the Forum leaders aimed to heal the wounds caused by the selection of the Cook Islands’ Henry Puna as the new secretary-general of the agency.

    Micronesia’s leaders believed they had a commitment that their candidate, Gerald Zackios from the Marshall Islands, would be named secretary-general.

    In February, the five Micronesian members of the Forum announced they would leave in protest at the selection.

    But in a virtual meeting, dubbed the Troika Plus dialogue, on Monday, the Micronesian leaders heard apologies from Papua New Guinea’s James Marape, Fiji’s Voreqe Bainimarama, Samoa’s Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Mailielegaoi and the outgoing Secretary-General Dame Meg Taylor.

    The leaders expressed regret and acknowledged that the situation could have been managed differently and better.

    ‘Secure regional solidarity’
    The Forum chair, Tuvalu Prime Minister, Kausea Natano, reminded the leaders the dialogue was to listen to the concerns and issues of the Micronesian presidents and to “secure the solidarity of our region.”

    Nauru’s President Aingimea was deeply thankful and moved by the depth of sincerity in an apology that he said “resonates deep within my heart.”

    “Leadership is shown at times like this and to the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, the Prime Minister of Samoa, and the Prime Minister of Fiji, you have shown yourselves to be able leaders; wise leaders, in bringing words like this to us here,” he said.

    Marape appealed to Micronesia not to leave the Forum and encouraged the leaders to “break bread” and right the wrong.

    He reiterated his choice in voting with Micronesia at the election of the PIF secretary-general, and urges that in the interest of regional solidarity the election of the secretary general should be on rotation even if it was not a written agreement, for what he describes as for brotherhood.

    Samoa’s Tuila’epa said the meeting came at an opportune time and that more time for discussion could have reached an appropriate way out.

    Are apologies too little, too late?
    Palau’s president says apologies from some Pacific Islands Forum leaders this week is a step in the right direction but more action is needed.

    The apologies follow the public falling out with Micronesian states earlier this year over their preferred candidate for the Forum’s secretary general’s post, Gerald Zackios, being snubbed for Cook Islands’ Henry Puna.

    On Monday, the leaders of Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Samoa acknowledged the situation could have been managed better.

    Surangel Whipps Jr says he believes they are genuine and heartfelt, but that the Micronesian leader’s position remains the same and they need more than an apology to return to the Forum.

    “I don’t think any of us are coming back to the Forum unless we see change. We’ve made that position clear and that continues to be our position, and I think the Troika understands that. So, we’ve officially withdrawn and I would assume that no one’s going back unless change happens.”

    RNZ Pacific’s correspondent in the Marshall Islands, Giff Johnson, says the apologies are probably too little, too late.

    “Given the feelings that were expressed around the time of the vote, a couple of months back, and just the fallout that developed … in some ways it was perhaps unfortunate that people had painted themselves into a corner on it, in the lead-up to the secretary general vote,” he said.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

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    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Papua support group praises Meg Taylor for UN rights statement

    Asia Pacific Report

    The Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) has called on the Australian government to stop trying to keep Papua off the agenda at the Pacific Islands Forum and “strenuously support” Pacific leaders in urging Jakarta to allow a PIF fact-finding mission to the territory.

    Congratulating the PIF Secretary-General Meg Taylor on her statement to the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council, also called on Canberra to back the call for the visit to West Papua by the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

    An AWPA statement from Sydney said Taylor raised the issues of covid-19, climate change and West Papua and pointed out that the pandemic must not hinder efforts to address critical issues.

    About West Papua, she said the violent conflict and subsequent human rights violations in West Papua had been of concern for PIF leaders for more than 20 years.

    Joe Collins of AWPA said, “The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), the two main regional organisations in the Pacific, are very important for the issue of West Papua,” said Joe Collins of AWPA.

    Pacific leaders regularly raised the issue of West Papua at the UN and other international fora, given credibility to the issue on the world stage. This was the reason Pacific leaders were regularly condemned by Jakarta.

    “The human rights situation in West Papua is an issue of great concern for Pacific governments and their people and has the potential to impact on relations between Australia and countries in the region,” Collins said.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Fiji Speaker disallows debate on USP’s Ahluwalia deportation

    By RNZ Pacific

    The Speaker of Fiji’s Parliament has rejected calls from the opposition to debate the controversial deportation of the University of the South Pacific’s vice-chancellor, Professor Pal Ahluwalia.

    Ratu Epeli Nailatikau ruled that an oral question from National Federation Party (NFP) leader Professor Biman Prasad, a former USP economics academic, and an adjournment motion from Sodelpa leader Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu were not urgent.

    The deportation of the regional 12-nation body’s vice-chancellor has led to widespread regional criticism of Fiji’s government and urgent calls for action.

    However, Speaker Ratu Epeli said Dr Prasad’s question did not relate to a matter of public importance and did not qualify as urgent.

    Further, the adjournment motion was disallowed under standing orders.

    “I have considered the nature of the adjournment motion and ruled that the matters raised in the adjournment motion are not something that requires the immediate attention of Parliament or the government,” Ratu Epeli said.

    USP Council looks at deportation issues
    The USP Council released a statement at the weekend saying it was not consulted over Professor Pal Ahluwalia’s deportation.

    The council stated that it had not dismissed Professor Ahluwalia and expressed disappointment that it was not advised, as his employer, of the decision by Fiji’s government to deport him.

    The council has established a subcommittee, chaired by the President of Nauru, Lionel Angimea, including the council representatives of Australia, Tonga, Niue, Solomon Islands, Samoa and two Senate representatives to look into matters surrounding the deportation.

    The meeting on Friday also discussed the possibility of a vice-chancellor being based in and operating out of another country apart from Fiji.

    Dr Giulio Masasso Tu’ikolongahau Paunga has been appointed acting vice-chancellor of USP in the meantime.

    The sub-committee has been tasked to bring recommendations to the council as soon as possible. The next meeting is on February 16.

    Dame Meg ‘disheartened’
    The incoming Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Henry Puna, of the Cook Islands, said he would not be speaking about the removal of the vice-chancellor until after a communique from the regional grouping was released.

    However, the outgoing Secretary-General, Dame Meg-Taylor, of Papua New Guinea, issued a statement.

    “As the permanent chair of the Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific and a member of the USP Council, I am disheartened by the ongoing and recent events at the university culminating in the deportation [last week] of vice-chancellor and president, Professor Pal Ahluwalia.

    “I am confident that fellow council members will continue to uphold good governance and follow due process to ensure the immediate restoration of strong leadership of the university,” Dame Meg said.

    Dame Meg Taylor
    Outgoing PIF Secretary-General Dame Meg Taylor … “disheartened” by the expulsion of the vice-chancellor. Image: RNZ/PIFSec

    Meanwhile, the chairman of the Forum, Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano urged the university council to find a resolution to the situation.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Micronesian leaders to debate leaving Pacific Islands Forum

    By RNZ Pacific

    Micronesian leaders are to meet today to agree on a united response to the snub of their preferred candidate as Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) secretary-general last week.

    They say the rejection of Marshall Islands’ Gerald Zackios has led to division within the Pacific.

    PIF members voted in favour of former Cook Islands prime minister Henry Puna.

    The chair of the Micronesian Presidents’ Summit, President Lionel Aingimea of Nauru, has scheduled Monday’s virtual meeting.

    It follows last October’s “Mekreos Communique” where presidents of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru and Palau insisted the Forum honour an unwritten gentleman’s agreement to rotate the secretary-general role by sub-region.

    They were clear that it was Micronesia’s turn.

    The lack of support for their candidate leaves the Micronesian states to decide whether or not to remain in the Forum and to co-ordinate a united response to the vote.

    In a separate diplomatic note advising Fiji of the closure of its Suva embassy, Palau also mentions it will be terminating its participation in the Pacific Islands Forum.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.