Dr Sandra Tarte, Director of the Politics and International Affairs Programme at the University of the South Pacific, discusses Fiji's growing diplomatic and military relationship with China, why Fiji is establishing new embassies in non-aligned nations, the concern by Pacific Islands nations that they have lost ownership of the PI Forum, and the poor state of Fiji-Australia-New Zealand relations that she considers unhelpful to any party. The Tarte family has been in Fiji since 1871.
Click here to listen to the Radio Australia interview.
4 comments:
Croz, the quality of this interview makes me wonder why the regional media doesn't make more use of Sandra Tarte. She covers every base here in a highly intelligent, perceptive and balanced way with none of the political point-scoring and borderline hysteria we get from certain other commentators usually favoured by the ABC. It's obvious that Dr Tarte has one of the finest minds in the islands. Couple that with a distinguished local pedigree and you'd hope that she gets the widest possible hearing in the corridors of power in Canberra and Wellington. As she rightly points out, something has to be done as a matter of urgency to arrest the deterioration in their relationship with Suva. Can you imagine the shock if Bainimarama were to ever allow the Chinese a naval base in Fiji? Yet it doesn't seem that far-fetched if you accept Dr Tarte's premise of the growing links with Beijing and the possible rearming of the RFMF with Chinese weaponry. Australia and NZ are maintaining their present hard line against the regime at their own peril.
@ Excellent analysis......
A naval base for China in Fiji? Well, a few years back it was being considered that Savusavu Bay might suit the US Navy. That would have changed the Cakaudrove economy overnight. In lieu, Guam has been the recipient of a huge military and naval 'makeover'. However, in the search for a 'Parity of esteem' for various ethnic groups within Fiji, Fiji is itself searching for a 'Parity of esteem' in the wider region. There is just a hint now that this view is being recognised by the formerly deaf. It is never too late to make the necessary shift in understanding and to reinforce what was really only 'the inevitable'? A regional re-look at who we are and how we must connect and eventually co-operate in the wider global context.
@ Excellent analysis.....
The arrival of Brian 0'Flaherty to run the Fiji Times on a daily basis should add to this analysis. An Irishman from County Galway with a hands-on understanding of mid-1990s Fiji, Brian should more than contribute to the continuing debate: Where shall we all go next?
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