pn918. The Forum Through Both Ends of the Telescope

UPDATE. Click here.

The Forum opened with PM Bainimarama saying a strategy within the strategy must be about ensuring no external entity has strategic control over any of us, alluding presumably at China and Taiwan but perhaps also at Australia, NZ and the USA. 

He said, " It is my personal belief as a proud Pacific Islander that we are at our most resilient as a family, we speak more powerfully as a family and we can only build our best possible future, together, as a family. [Our]  collective prosperity must fundamentally drive the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. [We] must be able to effectively address their core vulnerabilities over the long term."

The 2050 Strategy for  the Blue Pacific Continent adopted at the previous Forum meeting consists of seven thematic areas including climate change, resources, technology and development, political leadership, regionalism and security.

 Bainimarama says economic, trade, and resource management considerations, and the key enablers that support these areas such as the rule of law, environmental protection, regional security and transport must under pin their cooperation through this strategy.

So far, New Zealand has committed to spend  NZ$1.77 billion mainly on climate change over the next three years, at least half on the Pacific, the rest on support adaptation initiatives. The U.S. aims to increase spending on the Pacific three-fold, with US$60 a year for the next ten years, although some will be spent on reopening and opening new embassies, With Australain PM Anthony Alabene due to arrive for the Forum today, we can also expect a similar announcement by Australia.

This is all well and good. Much of the money will be spent on vital development and environment projects but Bainimarama's warning about "externl entities" should not be forgotten.  He who pays the piper calls the tune — at least some of the time.   

Think of the AUKUS and ANZUS treaties  concerning the Indo-Pacific region, and how NATO is strengthening relations with its Asia-Pacific partners Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand which has prompted alarm in Beijing. 

Important as they are, from one end of the telescope the Forum and the Pacific appear as small parts of a much bigger scene. 

We need to look through both ends.

-- ACW