The Fijian prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, has said a police exchange agreement with China is under review as his government considers whether to cancel it outright. In 2011, Fiji’s government – a military dictatorship at the time – signed a memorandum of understanding enabling Fijian police officers to be trained in China. It also saw Chinese officers deployed to Fiji. But since being voted into power in a general election six months ago, Rabuka’s coalition government has shown more scepticism about close ties with Beijing. In January, he told local…
Tag: Fiji
China accuses Australia of trying to sabotage its relationships in Pacific region
China has accused Australia of attempting to sabotage its relationships in the Pacific, saying Australia has a “cold war mentality” and is blinded by “ideological prejudice”. Senior Chinese diplomats said Australia has undermined Beijing’s security and law enforcement cooperation with Fiji, alleging its relations with Fiji are being “targeted” by Australia, the US and New Zealand. Fiji’s prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, came to power in December – after 15 years of rule by Frank Bainimarama – promising to scrap a 2011 police cooperation agreement which Fiji signed with China under…
In Fiji’s Closely Observed Election, a Former Coup Leader Is Ahead
It was a clash between two former coup leaders, set against the backdrop of a remote and palm-fringed vacation destination that has, of late, taken on outsized importance in a battle for primacy in the Pacific between the United States and China. And with the military constitutionally permitted to intervene if it saw fit, that contest was one with the potential to become extremely volatile. So, as voters went to the polls for the general election on Wednesday, focus turned to Fiji, an island nation known regionally for its stormy…
Fiji election 2022: what’s happening, why does it matter and will the vote be peaceful?
Fiji will hold a national election on Wednesday 14 December, the third since its leader Josaia Voreqe “Frank” Bainimarama came to power in a coup he instigated in 2006. The poll will mark the country’s third democratic elections under the constitution that was implemented in 2013. What is happening? Bainimarama is seeking to extend his prime ministership by another four years. However, Fijian opposition parties believe they are in with a chance to topple the ruling FijiFirst party for the first time in nearly 16 years. Voters will cast their…
China holds talks on policing with Pacific island officials
China said it held a video meeting to discuss police cooperation with a group of Pacific island nations on Tuesday, however at least two nations told Reuters their ministers and police commissioners had been unavailable to attend. China’s attempt to strike a security and trade deal with 10 Pacific island nations in May fuelled concern in Washington and Canberra about Beijing’s military ambitions in the region, and prompted a boost in western aid. Those concerns were first sparked when Solomon Islands struck a security pact with China in April. Chinese…
Qatar’s World Cup of woe: inside the 18 November Guardian Weekly
Ordinarily a football World Cup would be a moment for celebration, a time to savour sport’s power to unite nations and a glorious distraction from the problems of the day. Not this time: the 2022 tournament has been mired in controversy since it was awarded to Qatar 12 years ago. The small but ultra-wealthy Middle Eastern state thought that hosting the world’s most-watched sporting event would showcase it as a major player on the global stage. But instead Qatar has come in for severe criticism on a number of fronts,…
Smiles and unity at the Pacific Islands Forum mask tough questions shelved for another day
At the close of the Pacific Islands Forum the leaders emerged from their retreat smiling, cut a giant cake with a sword and then, in an impromptu moment of diplomatic bonhomie, posed for a selfie after Anthony Albanese whipped out his phone, Ellen DeGeneres style. It was, quite literally, a picture of harmony. “It’s been a very successful meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum,” said Albanese at his post-leaders’ retreat press conference. “We are family when it comes to the Pacific and there was a good spirit of cooperation and…
‘Things aren’t going back’: Australia braces for step-up in China’s Pacific push
The Australian government is bracing for China to step up its push to expand influence in the Pacific, with a senior figure privately conceding Canberra has a lot of work to do to regain lost trust and strengthen regional unity. Despite initial relief at a decision by Pacific island countries to defer a sweeping 10-country security and economic pact proposed by China, the Australian government now believes this may be only a temporary reprieve. “Things aren’t going back to the way they were,” said a senior Australian government figure who…
Why China Is Miles Ahead in a Pacific Race for Influence
SUVA, Fiji — Take a walk through the city where China’s foreign minister met on Monday with the leaders of nearly a dozen Pacific Island nations, and China’s imprint is unmistakable. On one side of Suva, the capital of Fiji, there’s a bridge rebuilt with Chinese loans and unveiled with the country’s prime minister standing beside China’s ambassador. On the other, down Queen Elizabeth Drive, sits Beijing’s hulking new embassy, where the road out front has been fixed by workers in neon vests bearing the name of a Chinese state-owned…
Pacific nations walk geopolitical tightrope over Ukraine war, as nuclear legacy looms
Some Pacific island nations have been left walking a geopolitical tightrope in their response to the war in Ukraine, as they try to balance regional alliances with both the west and China and Russia. Comments by Russian president Vladimir Putin, which many have interpreted as thinly veiled threats about the potential use of nuclear weapons have also touched a nerve in a region long affected by the catastrophic effects of nuclear weapons testing by the US, France and Britain. Pacific leaders have broadly lambasted the Russian assault, with the Federated…