Thursday, 12 August 2010
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China in Fiji from Politicised we need to Securitize ANZUS Like NOW
Features
Fiji leader prefers links with China
12 August 2010
Townsville Bulletin
English
Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved
FIJI'S military leader Frank Bainimarama says he wants to ditch traditional ties with Australia and New Zealand and align his Pacific Island nation with China.
Speaking to Fijivillage News website during a visit to China, the self-appointed prime minister said China was the one country that understood the reforms he was trying to implement.
Bainimarama has had a fractious relationship with his neighbours since seizing power in a 2006 coup.
Fiji has been suspended from the 16-nation Pacific Islands Forum and the Commonwealth and has been hit with sanctions by Australia, New Zealand and the United States as well as the European Union.
China ``is the only nation that can help assist Fiji in its reforms because of the way the Chinese think. They think outside the box.
``What they want to do they do, they are visionary in what they do,'' he told the website.
``I think we need to forget about the (Pacific) Forum, about Australia and New Zealand.
``Let's maintain the trade but forget about the politics.''
Bainimarama said Fiji needed to take advantage of its ``understanding'' with China to see how Beijing could assist with Fiji's development.
``We need infrastructure, we need water, we need electricity.
``Australia and New Zealand and America, none of those nations are going to provide that. We know that now because of their policies towards us so let's forget about these nations.''
Since the 2006 bloodless coup, Bainimarama has ignored international demands for an immediate return to democratic elections.
FIJI EYES CHINA
12 August 2010
Dominion Post
English
© 2010 Fairfax New Zealand Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Fiji military leader Voreqe Bainimarama wants to ditch traditional ties with Australia, New Zealand and the United States, and align his Pacific Island nation with China. Speaking to FijiVillage News website yesterday during a visit to China, the self-appointed prime minister said China was the one country that understood the reforms he was trying to implement. Mr Bainimarama has had a fractious relationship with his neighbours since seizing power in a 2006 coup. He said he was prepared to trade with Australia and New Zealand but politically it made more sense to align with China.
FIJI COURTS CHINA
12 August 2010
The Press (Christchurch)
English
© 2010 Fairfax New Zealand Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Fiji's military leader Frank Bainimarama wants to ditch traditional ties with Australia, New Zealand and the United States, and align his nation with China, it was reported yesterday. Speaking to Fijivillage News website during a visit to China, the self-appointed prime minister said China was the one country that understood the reforms he was trying to implement.
News
Fiji's chief plans to spurn Australia and turn to China
By DANIEL FLITTON DIPLOMATIC EDITOR With AFP
12 August 2010
The Age
English
© 2010 Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited.
FIJI strongman Frank Bainimarama has ramped up his war of words with Australia, saying he will ditch ties with Canberra and instead turn to China for support.
Commodore Bainimarama — who last month expelled Australia's top envoy from the Pacific Island nation — said only China could help Fiji.
In what appears to be an effort to further pressure regional neighbours to back his regime, Commodore Bainimarama also lashed out at the 16-country Pacific Island Forum over its continued suspension of Fiji.
"I think we need to forget about the [Pacific] forum, about Australia and New Zealand. Let's maintain the trade but forget about the politics," he said.
Fiji has become a big test of Australia's diplomatic influence in the Pacific. The forum eventually suspended Fiji after Commodore Bainimarama refused to hold fresh elections after the 2006 coup in which he seized power.
But he held a rival regional meeting in Suva last month and gained a surprising show of support, further straining ties.
On a visit to the World Expo in Shanghai, he praised China's vision and ability to help Fiji develop.
"We need infrastructure, we need water, we need electricity. Australia and New Zealand and America, none of those nations are going to provide that.
"We know that now because of their policies towards us, so let's forget about these nations," he said on the Fijivillage News website.
South Pacific specialist Jenny Hayward-Jones said the comments marked a new level in the row with Australia and attempts to isolate the Fijian regime.
"Other Pacific countries want to talk to Fiji, and Australia and New Zealand are the only ones maintaining this 'don't talk' policy," she said.
But she said Commodore Bainimarama had overestimated China's interest in Fiji and willingness to prop up his regime.
Cutting ties with Australia would also impact on Fiji's economy, Ms Hayward-Jones said.
World
Choosing China
12 August 2010
Daily Telegraph
English
Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved
SUVA: Fiji's military leader Frank Bainimarama wants to ditch historic ties with Australia and New Zealand and align his Pacific Island nation with China.
Speaking during a visit to China, the self-appointed Prime Minister said China was the one country that understood the reforms he was trying to implement.
Mr Bainimarama has had a fractious relationship with his neighbours since seizing power in 2006.
Fiji has since been suspended from the 16-nation Pacific Islands Forum and the Commonwealth.
Local
Fiji's dictator praises China
ROWAN CALLICK
12 August 2010
The Australian
English
Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved
FIJI'S military ruler Frank Bainimarama has ratcheted up to fever pitch his praise of his country's new best friend, China.
Commodore Bainimarama's comments came as he extended his stay in China by four days to pursue the investment offers he claims he is receiving.
Since leading his coup almost four years ago, Commodore Bainimarama has publicised the support he has received from China, which has a policy of dealing with rulers regardless of how they came to power.
A new element in his rhetoric is his dismissal not only of Australia and New Zealand, which seek to bring Fiji back into the democratic fold, but also of the Pacific Islands Forum, the region's premier body, from which Fiji was suspended last year.
Commodore Bainimarama said from China yesterday that ``we need to forget about the (Pacific islands) forum, about Australia and New Zealand''.
Such attacks on the forum are unlikely to be applauded by other island nations.
He told the Fiji village website that ``China is the only nation that can help assist Fiji in its reforms, because of the way the Chinese think''.
``They think outside the box,'' he said. ``What they want to do, they do, they are visionary.''
He claimed that there was even a prospect of China establishing a factory to assemble cars in Fiji, whose economy had shrunk every year since the coup in December 2006.
Commodore Bainimarama said he was prepared to trade with Australia and New Zealand, but it made more sense to politically align Fiji with China.
``We need infrastructure, water, electricity,'' he said. ``Australia and New Zealand and America: none of those nations are going to provide that.''
He said there were huge prospects for Chinese tourism to Fiji, where Chinese investors were also discussing building hotels.
Commodore Bainimarama visited a factory making tourist buses that will be sent to Fiji.
China has assiduously maintained strong relationships with the Pacific islands forum, and while modestly increasing aid to Fiji, appears reluctant to back it brazenly against such a strategic economic partner as Australia.
China's vice-foreign minister, Cui Tiankai, said during the post-forum dialogue in Vanuatu last Friday that Beijing wished to ``further strengthen co-operation with Pacific islands regional organisations''.
It provided a fleet of limousines for the forum's summit.
Foreign
FIJI Leader eyes China
12 August 2010
The Advertiser
English
Copyright 2010 News Ltd. All Rights Reserved
FIJI'S military leader Frank Bainimarama wants to ditch ties with Australia and New Zealand and align his nation with China.
The self-appointed prime minister said China was the one country that understood the reforms he was trying to implement.
Mr Bainimarama said he was prepared to trade with regional powerhouses Australia and New Zealand, but politically it made more sense to align with China.
Fiji's PM Proposes Aligning Country with China
Neil Ashdown
11 August 2010
IHS Global Insight Daily Analysis
English
Copyright 2010, IHS Global Insight Limited. All Rights Reserved.
In an interview with the Fijivillage website published today, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama of Fiji stated his intention to abandon political links with Australia, New Zealand and the United States, in favour of closer relations with China. This reflected comments Bainimarama has made to politicians and businessmen during his current tour of China. Stating that his country needed to "forget about" its traditional political partners, Bainimarama praised China as "the only nation that can help assist Fiji in its reforms". Importantly Bainimarama was careful to distinguish political ties from economic and trade relations, most probably a reference to the lucrative Australian tourist market.
However, the regime's announcement that it will not rejoin the regional Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) plus trade talks, along with a number of deals reportedly struck during his visit, including the possibility of Chinese investment in the islands and greater Chinese tourism, suggest that the Fijian regime may be seeking an economic realignment as well.Significance: Bainimarama's announcement is indicative of the parlous state of relations between Fiji and its traditional partners, in particular Australia. Indeed the inclusion of a dismissive reference to the United States may have been intended primarily to appeal to his Chinese audience. A broad economic realignment towards China would carry risks. In the past in the Pacific an influx of Chinese capital has seen a concomitant influx of Chinese workers and their families, something which has already caused difficulties in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. For example, riots in 2006 destroyed much of the Chinese quarter in the Solomon Islands' capital of Honiara. In Fiji, a country already marked by a highly-politicised ethnic divide, the reaction could be even more intense. More broadly, the announcement reflects the military-dominated regime's increasing authoritarianism. Bainimarama has made no secret of his opinion that only the military can save Fiji from itself, and in China he undoubtedly sees a role model for development without meaningful democracy. For their part, his Chinese hosts may see only economic opportunities and the continued support of another small island state in international organisations.
Fiji wants to align with China: report
AFP
11 August 2010
AAP Bulletins
English
© 2010 Australian Associated Press Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved
Fiji's military leader Frank Bainimarama says he wants to ditch traditional ties with Australia and New Zealand and align his Pacific Island nation with China.
Speaking to Fijivillage News website during a visit to China, the self-appointed prime minister said China was the one country that understood the reforms he was trying to implement.
Bainimarama has had a fractious relationship with his neighbours since seizing power in a 2006 coup.
Fiji has been suspended from the 16-nation Pacific Islands Forum and the Commonwealth and has been hit with sanctions by Australia, New Zealand and the United States as well as the European Union.
Bainimarama said he was prepared to trade with regional powerhouses Australia and New Zealand but at a political level it made more sense to align with China.
China "is the only nation that can help assist Fiji in its reforms because of the way the Chinese think. They think outside the box. What they want to do they do, they are visionary in what they do," he told the website.
"I think we need to forget about the (Pacific) Forum, about Australia and New Zealand. Let's maintain the trade but forget about the politics."
Bainimarama said Fiji needed to take advantage of its "understanding" with China to see how Beijing could assist with Fiji's development.
"We need infrastructure, we need water, we need electricity. Australia and New Zealand and America, none of those nations are going to provide that. We know that now because of their policies towards us so let's forget about these nations."
Since the 2006 bloodless coup, Bainimarama has ignored international demands for an immediate return to democratic elections.
His response has been to tear up the constitution, sack the judiciary, tighten controls on the news media, saying he wants to reform the voting system and develop a new constitution before returning to democracy.
He also told a recent meeting of delegates from Pacific island nations that they need to "break the shackles" of their colonial past.
Chinese investors' interest in Fiji overwhelming, say Bainimarama
huangxingwei
11 August 2010
Xinhua's China Economic Information Service
XNHA
English
(c) 2010 新华通讯社版权所有，未经协定授权，禁止下载使用。
SUVA, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Interest shown by Chinese investors wanting to set up business in Fiji has been overwhelming, said Fiji's Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama.
Speaking from China on Tuesday to the Fiji media, Bainimarama said the prospects are huge for Fiji and the advantages for the country will be seen in the very near future.
He said there was talk of more Chinese tourists coming to the island nation after successful tourism campaigns at the World Expo in Shanghai.
Bainimarama said there was planned tourism projects that included Chinese investors interested in building hotels in Fiji.
He visited a bus factory in China and the first set of buses from there is expected to arrive in Fiji soon.
Bainimarama said there may be some possibility of setting up a car assembling factory in Fiji.
He extended his stay in China this week for another four days to attract more investors in the hope of salvaging Fiji's economy that has greatly suffered as a result of the political situation as well as the natural disasters. Enditem
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