11/10/2022 0 Comments Xinhua chequebookHundreds of millions have been spent on Honiara peace-keeping, although dwarfed by the billions spent by the Aussies. Previously NZ has done this in the Solomons with airports, roads, wharf facilities and other infrastructure projects. Our missions must deliver concrete results. It pays to be constantly with Pacific leaders. One cannot outsource such responsibilities as has the current minister. In the Pacific, politics is personal and constant contact yields dividends. No, he is using his newfound oriental leverage as local political stickum glue. Cynics might say Sogovare has been hypnotised by a jade bangle. If he still has an axe to grind with Canberra, it is being sharpened by Beijing. He expelled the Aussie High Commissioner in 2006, the same year his own office was raided by police, including Aussie officers. He has a troubled history with Australia. The current brouhaha about Chinese expansionism in the Pacific overlooks the political games of current Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogovare. Recently senior White House official Dr Kurt Campbell flew into Honiara to try and dissuade the Solomons PM from signing the security pact with China. The new Aussie Foreign Affairs Minister, Penny Wong, hasn't even got her new business card and is already doing the business in the Pacific. Due to our modest chequebook, we need to create our equity through trust and relationships. Minister Mahuta has failed to secure our Pacific leverage. The China wave has been building for some time and now it is crashing ashore in our island neighbours. Unfortunately, she has exported Labour's penchant for bureaucratic inertia and inaction. Don't wait until circumstances force your hand. In the real world, our minister has failed the test of Pacific strategic leadership. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with Samoa's Head of State Tuimalealiifano Sualauvi Vaaletoa II in Apia.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |