STRICTLY 4 THE ISLANDS: ALL EYES ON XI

The People’s Republic of China is a state that splits the opinions of the world. Some see it as a repressive, authoritarian dictatorship, while others see it as the only sane alternative to the global influence of the West. Chinese people have been a part of our Pacific community since at least the mid 19th century, and since then China has seen an insane level of change in the form of civil war, revolution, and eventually the transformation into one of the world's premier global powers. And like all global powers, they hold our sea of islands to a high level of importance. I have no interest in the same fearmongering many participate in when it comes to talking about China (New Zealand’s long history of xenophobia towards our Chinese community certainly colours many of our interpretations of the country), but we should have an interest in those who have an interest in the Pacific. So let's track how the red sun looks in our Pacific sky right now.

Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister, James Marape, visited China at the end of April, and the most significant portion of his trip was found in the city of Guangzhou in Guangdong province, China. In the 90’s, farming techniques pioneered by Professor Lin Zhanxi known as ‘Juncao farming’ were introduced to PNG, which had huge positive impacts for farmers in the Eastern Highlands in terms of production and income. Marape was keen to emphasise this to his hosts, and made known his ambitions to strengthen PNG’s ties to all of Asia through the further development of their local infrastructure and their continued relationship with Guangdong province. China’s embassy in PNG released a statement claiming that “China is ready to work with Papua New Guinea to deepen practical cooperation in trade, investment and key development sectors for shared growth,” echoing Marape’s vision to some degree. 

PNG’s relationship with China has been watched closely by the United States and its allies, particularly Australia. As the decade progresses, Australia’s connections to the Pacific have been growing, in an intentional attempt to counter the ever-increasing Chinese influence. Sports diplomacy is one avenue China may struggle to compete with, especially in a league-loving country like PNG. A new NRL expansion team representing PNG is due to debut in 2028, with famous players like Jarome Luai set to make the move to Port Moresby. The team is being partially funded by the Australian government, and part of the deal for securing the funding was an agreement that PNG would not further defence ties with China. Marape sees the value in a nationally-uniting force in a country struggling to maintain a sense of national unity, and Australia seems to understand this, too. 

Vanuatu has spent the past few months talking with China, hashing out the details of the ‘Namele’ agreement, named after a leaf that symbolises peace and authority. Australia also has their own agreement in the works with Vanuatu, the ‘Nakamal’ agreement, which is focused on security and development. Worries were raised that Namele could impact Nakamal if it compromised Australian’s security and defence infrastructure, but Vanuatu's Prime Minister Jotham Napat has publicly pushed against this, emphasising that the Namele agreement does not include defence and that “Vanuatu will decide what is good for Vanuatu. We will not be dictated to.” 

China has a series of territorial disputes across Asia, including an ongoing back and forth with the Philippines in the South China Sea, where China claims islands the UN has ruled they have no right to. New Zealand and Australia have recently joined the Philippines in a military exercise named ‘Balikatan,’ the Philippines' biggest ever and one that extended through the disputed areas of the South China Sea. China’s foreign ministry released a statement, claiming that these countries “blindly binding themselves together in the name of security will only be akin to playing with fire and ultimately backfiring upon themselves.” New Zealand and Australia have denied they’re participating for any reason other than strengthening alliances. China, New Zealand, Australia, and the USA are always swinging their boats around in each other's waters to show off their military capabilities, and there is no doubt it's not helping stability in the region they all want a piece of. 

Also, happy Rotuman language week! The theme this year is “Ȧf'ȧk, putua, a'pumuạ'ȧk ma rak'ȧk 'os fäega ma 'os ag fak Rotuma, la se maoen 'e 'os tore”; treasure, nurture and teach our Rotuman language and culture so it may live on through generations. La’ ma alalum, until next time.