Nationalism in Pacific Settlements - Essay Example

Journal 1 COURSE OVERVIEW AND EPISTEMOLOGY AND PACIFIC SETTLEMENT There was a general consensus by the 1940s and 1950s that the origin of most of the inhabitants of the Pacific could be traced from the Southeast Asian region. These inhabitants went towards the east to settle in the Pacific islands. Radiocarbon dating and other techniques were used to trace their origin. In modern opinion, the Austronesian culture, which had emerged from Southeast Asia, had come to Oceania and they were known as Polynesians. The very last place to be colonized was New Zealand and in the recent years, technological progress had enabled settlement in the Antarctic region. Findings by E. Gifford and others had enabled us to understand the time schedule and the route that was followed for settlement in Oceania. In fact artefactual evidence like human bones, wasted blade axes, and tools confirmed the presence of early humans in Sahul and near Oceania. The finding of the Lapita pottery provided the crucial clue regarding the route followed by the ancestors of Polynesia (Howe, 60-76). However different views came up regarding the origin of the Polynesians. According to Heyerdahl’s book the Polynesians originated from America (Howe, 122). Similar to Heyerdahl’s view, one can trace similar viewpoint in missionary William Ellis in the later 1820s. He had formulated the case for American origin. He believed regarding the proximity of the Pacific Islanders to the Malays but he thought that they have come in this island following the northern route which is via the Kurtile and Aleutian islands, across the Bering Strait and into northwest America, or modern-day British Columbia in Canada. The route followed by them as outlined by Ellis was objected by another missionary John Williams in 1839. He believed that they had followed a direct route across the oceans. Opinions in favor of South American origin of the Pacific Islanders circulated throughout the nineteenth century but its importance among the scholars diminished by the nineteenth century. This issue was rekindled once again by Thor Heyerdahl in 1947 with his Kon- Tiki expedition (Howe, 123-125). ORIGINS OF NATIONALISM AND NATION-STATES The concept of orientalism was introduced by Edward Said where the West was considered as the developed one and they were referred as the occident. The non Europeans were considered as orients, who were traditional in nature and lacked capital centric approach (Said, 1-3). It has been argued that institutions like the census, map, and museum play a big role in shaping the dominion of the colonial state. It included “nature of the human beings ruled, geography of its domain, and the legitimacy of its ancestry” (Benedict, 163-164). While analyzing the concept of the formation of nation state, one first needs to understand the meaning of a nation. A nation is defined as an imagined state. The nation is imagined to be limited or finite in spite of having large areas and it is a community in the sense that even if there is exploitation, the nation is also perceived as an emblem of deep “comradeship”. The nation is also imagined to be limited. This is so because even if a country is large in size with a billion populations still its boundary is finite as beyond that there are other nations (Benedict, 6-7). The concept of orientalism can be used to trace the origin of the Pacific islands. The contact between the Europeans and the Pacific islands in fact gave birth to the concept of nations and nation states. One can even notice that the Pacific islands had a considerable “intellectual influence” on the Westerners. This was seen even though the relative size of the islands was small and they lacked resources compared to the western countries. In fact the Europeans though for a brief moment was compelled to admit after the discovery of Tahiti in 1760s that their life was better than many Europeans. The people of Tahiti had in fact proved the myth of “noble savage” true to the Europeans. (Lansdown, 5-13). COLONIALISM, NATIONALISM, AND NATION STATES IN THE PACIFIC The people of the Pacific island, before their contact with the Europeans and advent of Christianity were considered to be savage in nature. Hau’ofa through his writings tried to give a clear picture about the islanders, in a way that the inhabitants of the island because of the images presented about them start to belittle themselves. Oceania has always been projected as a place which is small in size, have paucity of resources, lack of infrastructure and negligible economic development. The isolation of the region from the rest of the world was always highlighted. The author had also initially agreed to this view as there was a rush for financial aid by the leaders of the island. Apart from that the stagnant and declining economy also projected a very grim picture. However the author later presented a different picture of Oceania keeping in mind the fact that constant reminder of its deficiencies might have a negative impact on the minds of the inhabitants. Projecting the countries of Micronesia and Polynesia to be too small and poor is just a narrow viewpoint from the point of view of economics and geography. In these views often the aspect of cultural history is overlooked. If such views are allowed to “internalize” then it could lead to “moral paralysis” for generations to come. However if one looks at the myths, legends and oral traditions then one can say that the people of Oceania never viewed their world in such “microscopic proportions” unlike what others thought. They never considered their geographical boundary to be the only part of their universe. Instead their universe was not only their land surface but also the surroundings oceans to the extent to which they can exploit it. Here, Hau’ofa wanted to point out that this area has been declared as small from the point of view of the geographical area that it covers but within it the activities of the people in different fields at different points of time has been immense. Paucity of resources is also not true in case of Solomon Islands, Cooks Island, etc. Melanesia’s bulk of trade and exchange also shows their amount of economic activity (Hau’ofa, 1-11). DECOLONIZATION AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF NATION-STATES There have been a number of states in the South Pacific which have gained independence. There was a process of constitution building after the process of decolonization. This process has attracted a lot of interest in the field of politics and constitution. The making of the constitution in these places is a very difficult task because while drawing the constitution the ethnicity and the traditional sentiments of the different states have to be kept in mind. Constitution making is considered to be important for the Pacific because it represents the first “real experience in national politics.” The process of constitution making has been important for the Pacific region as it has been the symbol of proper representation in politics. The constitution even provides the basis while negotiating with the metropolitan states and leaders of the colony. In fact the setting up of the constitution is considered to be an emblem of sovereignty. A democratic process was followed while drawing up the constitution in most states with the exception of Fiji. In case of Fiji as the party system was well developed so it was possible to “dispense with that procedure.” In case of West Samoa the entire procedure was decided by the metropolitan but while implementing the approval of the Samoan leaders was also taken under consideration. The process of nation building was slow in case of the Pacific Islands because they lacked the criteria in terms of size, resources, etc. to get independence. After independence and drawing the constitution, issues like association and integration came up. The question of decentralization was also important in order to reconcile the interests of the states and islands. There are some states like the West Papua, Guam, etc, which are still dependent. On the other hand there are some states which have free association with the former colonial power like Cook Islands, Niue, Palau, etc (Ghai, 1-30). THE POLITICS OF INDEPENDENT NATION-STATES PART I Nauru is a small island of only 21km square in area. Though the country has wealth its future is in question as the amount of soil left is not enough and its main resource in the form of phosphate has been exhausted. Its constitution was adopted in 1968 which involved a convention of 36 members. Parliamentary democracy was established which guaranteed civil rights and the president is the head of the state. The economic performance of Nauru has been very good because it has been observed that its per capita income is high in the world. Apart from that its trade balance is also favorable and it has even made investments abroad (Crocombe & Giese, 31-39). Tonga also in its quest for modernization also faced a lot of problems and wanted constitutional reforms. Initially its constitution included popular representation but with the passage of time the executive was strengthened by a series of amendments. Tonga’s constitution was often criticized on grounds of “electoral provisions, appointment of the cabinet, and appointment of the king” (Camphell, 55-56). In Samoa initially there existed their traditional form of government but with the passage of time the constitution was embraced in 1960 and some features of its constitution has resemblance with their traditional notions. Politics is considered to be the study or the search “for the ideal social organization of a society and people” in philosophy. The “fa’amatai” is said to be the social organization of “matai” titles and it is considered to be the most important and appropriate form of social organization for the Samoan people. This type of social organization reflects various views which are conducive for a favorable social and political environment. It reflected the ability of the Samoan culture to incorporate changes, it insisted culture as a unity, inclusion of decision making process, and there was also recognition of rights. All these were also reflected while drawing up the constitution (Ashby et al, 117& 126-127). THE POLITICS OF FREE ASSOCIATION The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Kiribati, and the Republic of Marshall Islands have been enjoying the power of exercising self-government under their elected leaders. These polities were once scattered islands under different chieftains but were later brought under colonial rule when they came in contact with the Europeans. These independent countries discontinued their political ties with the metropolitan states but being economically weak they are heavily dependent on aids. The practice of self government also involves the type of government to be followed. It was a unanimous decision to adopt the presidential system for ESM and this decision was taken by the delegates of the Micronesian Constitutional Convention on Saipan. However the manner in which the president would be selected was not decided. The decision became tougher as there were no political parties and a huge section of the population located in Truk and Pohnpei, the task of nominating a candidate was considered to be unfeasible. The solution to the problem was the adoption of a method by which it was directed to each state that in every four years there should be the selection of one senator at large and then the Congress would “co-opt the president and the vice president from a select group of senators” (Meller, 55). The concept of “constitutional sovereignty” is provoking towards nationalistic aspirations, but its economic consequence is not always so appealing. In this sense if one examines the relationship between Cook Islands and New Zealand one finds that Cook Islands have opted for Free Association with New Zealand in spite of declaring “self-determination.” Considerable amount of freedom is given by New Zealand and so Cook Islands have little incentives to break all ties. Even in matters like defense and foreign affairs New Zealand never exercised excessive control. This was evident from the fact that in 1965 the constitution of Cook Islands had “conferred” the responsibilities in the field of defense and foreign affairs to them but it never extended to “control” (Henderson, 99-102). References Howe, K.R. The Quest for Origins: who first discovered and settled New Zealand and the Pacific Islands? New Zealand: Penguin, 2003 Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York, U.S.: Vintage Books, 1994 Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. London, U.K.: Verso Editions and NLB, 1983 Lansdown, Richard. Strangers in the South Seas: The Idea of the Pacific in Western Thought. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2006 Hau’Ofa, Epeli. ‘Our Sea of Islands’. The Contemporary Pacific, (1994) 6.1,1-15 Ghai, Yash. Law, Government and Politics in the Pacific Island States. Suva, Fiji: Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific,1988 Le Tagaloa, Aiono Dr. Fanaafi. ‘The Samoan Culture and Government’, in Ron Crocombe (ed). Culture and Politics in the South Pacific. Suva: Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, 1992 Crocombe, Ron & Christine Giese. ‘Nauru: The politics of phosphate’, in Ron Crocombe, et al. Politics in Micronesia. Suva, Fiji: Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, 1983 Campbell, I.C.‘The quest for constitutional reform in Tonga’. The Journal of Pacific History,(2005) 40.1, 91-104. Henderson, John.‘Micro-states and the Politics of Assocation’, in Fay Alailima, et al. New Politics in the South Pacific. Suva, Fiji: Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, 1994 Meller, Norman. ‘The Micronesian Executive: The Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, and the Marshall Islands’. Pacific Studies,(1990), 14.1, 55-72 Journal 2 THE POLITICS OF DEPENDENCIES The Pacific group of islands has a history of its own where their origin dates back to a long time. They have been always been considered economically weak and their small size had always been an obstacle in the path of their development. They have been colonized and being weaker economically they are also highly depended on aid. In the present time though they have not come out economically strong with the exception of a few places, their political dependency has reduced to a large extent. An essential requirement for the establishment of self government is the making of the constitution which lays down the ideals of the people and helps in building a good political environment. This was also seen in case of the independent nations of the Pacific and the entire process of constitution making instilled among them political activity, compelled their leaders to think, raised questions of political power and it also established political norms. Democracy has been successful in most places with the exception of Fiji only. The types of government systems adopted are different. In West Samoa, Solomon Islands, etc. one finds Westminister system while FSM has Presidential form of government. The Westminster system is characterized by a system where there is an executive body called the cabinet responsible to the legislature and in the Presidential system, the President is an important person on whom all the executive powers are vested. He is separate from the legislative and serves for a fixed term. However it has been often observed that in the Pacific there are deviations seen in both the Westminster and Presidential system from their standard norms. The deviations are more strikingly visible under the Westminster system. For example, in places like West Samoa and Vanuatu the legislature has been given the power to appoint and dismiss the prime minister and not on the head of the state. Except Tonga and West Samoa, election for the Legislative is based on the principle of Universal Adult Franchise (Ghai, 54-59). TRADITIONALISM: CULTURAL RESURGENCE OR THE INVENTION OF TRADITION The introduction of democracy in the Pacific group of countries came about in the 1990s where changes were observed in a number of regions. The implementation of democracy was often looked upon as a “foreign flower” by many. The predominance of this belief can stem from the fact that democracy was something that has been introduced to them by others. It is not something that has begun at their initiative and hence there are reservations regarding it. Often a correlation has been found between the persistence of democracy and ethnic diversity. In case of Fiji one finds exclusive reservations in the constitution for the indigenous Fijians for executive positions. By doing so it ensures a majority of indigenous representative in the Parliament. Access to opportunities has often been on the basis of ethnic difference. One can find that representative democracy has established well in South Pacific and it is there even in those countries that are still colonies. Out of the twenty two states sixteen have an executive body which is responsible to the legislative and not to their metropolitan capital. in case of Tonga the executive is responsible to the king instead of the parliament. In case of Fiji as mentioned before is biased towards ethnicity and under that circumstances the spirit of democracy is in question (Larmour, 45). In case of the Pacific region for a specific period of time, customs, culture, and ethnicity were prominent. These concepts have often been used in different contexts. In case of the constitution of Samoa one finds the essence of their “matai” notions being incorporated. In fact a commentator from Tonga has claimed that the traditional beliefs of the people are not an outcome of any form of European interaction. The “matai” system has been a very dominating factor in case of West Samoa. Protests were seen in 1990 to reform the political system and as a result of that there was the initiation of universal adult franchise which was considered a big step in democratizing the politics of West Samoa (Lawson, 116-118). REGIONALISM AND REGIONAL INSTITUTIONS The Pacific group of countries includes the nations, which vary in land area, population size and also the availability of resources. This group includes countries which are small, vulnerable and also those states which are rich in resources like Fiji and Papua New Guinea. Regionalism in the Pacific basically means cooperation among the independent island states and the self governing territories ranging from Cook Islands to Papua New Guinea and it also includes New Zealand and the Northern Marianas islands. The Pacific Community which is the oldest intergovernmental organization also included two metropolitan states in the region, that is, Australia and New Zealand. It also included metropolitan states outside the region like United States, Britain, and France. There is an unambiguous support for regional cooperation among the Pacific islanders because they thought it to be a means to achieve social as well as economic development. On the other hand, it was observed that by giving the necessary aids, metropolitans like Australia and New Zealand were fulfilling their “strategic interests” and shaping the concept of regionalism according to their needs. Under such circumstances the essence of regionalism loses its hold. The signing of treaties like the South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement (SPARTECA) between Australia and New Zealand with other island countries enabled duty free access to goods. This agreement also included other technical and economic benefits. One often comes across one sided use of power in case of the metropolitan states. Australia, for example, in 2001 manipulated the Pacific countries under the garb of huge financial resources to house those refugees who were denied entry into Australia (Bryant-Tokalau & Frazer, 1-17). THE POLITICS OF DEVELOPMENT: MODERNIZATION VS. DEPENDENCY THEORY Poverty in the poor countries has been a major issue in the modern world. Social scientists seek to explain this anomaly and their answers come under different schools of thought. Modernization theory, which has originated in the developed countries as a strong means of social science, seeks to examine the reason for the origin of poverty in the third world countries. In their views, little suggestion regarding the contribution of the developed country for their plight is acknowledged. The modernists regard that the traditional nature of society, which is characterized by stagnation is responsible for the poverty. According to them capitalism is the key to success and to make the transition from traditional to modern society one has to embrace capitalism to introduce innovation and technological progress just like what Europe had done in its early stages. On the contrary, theorists of the Dependency Theory feel that due to expansionist policies of the developed countries the Third World countries are in a state of impoverishment. The dependency school acknowledges the increasing number of capitalists in the Third World, but does not agree to the fact that this class has the strength to lead the countries along the path of development. In case of the Pacific countries one can see that following the Modernization theory they have open their door to foreign investment and liberalization policies but all these have not changed the economic scenario of the region except for few countries. GLOBALIZATION, NEO-LIBERALISM, AND THE GOOD GOVERNANCE AGENDA Globalization is a phenomenon which has affected countries in every corner of the world. It is in fact a common theme found even in the Pacific islands. The crux of globalization lies in the fact that it involves increment in the flow of capital across the world, trade grows at a quicker pace and there is technological innovation. Globalization in the Pacific Island economies existed during the period 1850, to 1914 when trading with the world economy began with the arrival of the traders. The second phase of globalization was observed during the 1970, when the Pacific Island countries started following the agenda of globalization. Being heavily dependent on aid, these countries have to follow recommendations of their donors, international financial institutions, and investors. Australia had been one of the major proponents of globalization agenda. According to them these countries would be subjected to abject poverty unless they embrace globalization. This involved reducing the number of public sector, reduction of tariffs, and more free play of the private enterprise and complete influx of foreign capital. Australia in fact had decided to provide aid to the Pacific Island government on the condition that they reduce the size of civil services and there should be more foreign investment. The European Union also spoke in the same tone and also urged for “structural adjustment”, “integration in the global economy” and “good governance.” Under these circumstances the Pacific Island countries had no other choice but to accept the liberalization policies in the late 1990s. Under the mounting international pressure they had to give in. Accordingly the leaders of the Forum Island States negotiated regional free trade area in 1999 and it came into effect in 2003. Globalization however has not been able to bring about a good economic performance among the Pacific group of countries except for Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. WEST MEETS EAST IN THE PACIFIC: THE RISE OF CHINA IN THE REGION The development of the Chinese economy which was at one point sagging was an important event in the world of history and politics. The open door policy of the Chinese brought about immense improvement in its economy and there soon developed the need to venture out in order to meet the growing domestic demand. China is a part of the Pacific group of countries and it is one of the strongest economies even in terms of its contribution to the GDP of this region. However China’s increasing assertive presence in this region has been a major topic for discussion and a lot has been written about it. The rise of the Chinese has received mixed opinion because it is felt that china’s rise is accompanied by opportunities as well as challenges. China’s entry in this region has been accepted by many as a growing reality whereas concerns have been seen among countries like Japan and Taiwan. However there are many writers who have quite openly expressed their concern regarding impact China’s presence would have on the Pacific. A glance at the economic perspective would the fact that if satisfaction of domestic need brought China over here then also became a source of benefit for the states in the Pacific island. The entry of China has also brought a lot of investments and trade relations were established between the two countries. However the presence of China has also lead to the emergence of few problems like depression of wages. Apart from that the working conditions of the workers in mines was also questioned. The quest for political supremacy between Taiwan and China was considered to be a source of problem for the islanders. On the contrary it was seen that advantage in the form of increasing aid was enjoyed by the islanders because of this rift. China as a result of its strong economic performance has emerged as a strong power and countries like Fiji was interested in establishing diplomatic relations with China. Often the diplomatic competition between China and Taiwan was considered to be a source of entanglement for the other Pacific countries but on the flip side advantages were also reaped in by these countries in the form of additional aid. Chinese system of working had been under the scanner but their presence has also brought about certain amount of economic benefits. Many writers have projected the presence of China as an eminent threat to America’s position but no concrete proof has been provided yet. THE POLITICS OF LAND REFORM The notion of land reform has been a very complicated and sensitive issue in the Pacific and there have been views of different people which are often conflicting and also valid in nature. In the Pacific region one finds customary ownership as the principal form of land tenure in this region. Under this system rights of the land are managed by customary groups which are in turn motivated by the social and spiritual belief system. This system has been successfully operating in this region for a long time. This system is now facing the challenge of providing the required land tenure security and the ability to adapt to changing forces. These forces include social change, technological change and others. Proponents of land reforms argue that the insecurity regarding the recognition of the rights can be addressed if such reforms are implemented. Adoption of land reform policies will enable the process of recognition and support for customary systems and they can be linked to legal and economic systems. Benefits can be reaped for everyone by improvement in land security. The dual existence of the customary and formal institutions in the Pacific requires them to work harmoniously for the betterment of the Pacific people. Security in land tenure provides a lot of benefits and the Pacific countries are recognizing its importance. This is evident from the fact that Papua New Guinea has been implementing programs so as to make its land administration systems stronger, to increase availability of customary land for aid development. In order to realize protection of customary ownership, transparent land dealing, and sustainable development Vanuatu since 2005 has been developing various policies of land reforms. Similarly Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga, East Timor, and Kiribati are on the process of adopting land reform policy. CONFLICTS AND CRISES: CAUSES, TRENDS, AND IMPLICATIONS The Pacific Islands of Oceania as always been projected as place filled with peace and its pictures had been flashed across the media to promote tourism. However the recent activities of instability and political conflicts have changed the entire scenario (Murray & Storey, 213). Democracy seems to be in a grave danger in this region. Democracy was thought to be the ideal form of government after the end of the cold war but this notion received a blow because of a series of events that took place in this region (Reilley, 265). The year 1987 witnessed the first military coup in Fiji. There was also a civil war throughout the 1990s which involved a lot of bloodshed in Bougainville’s attempt to break away from Papua New Guinea. More coups were seen in the year 2000 in Fiji and Solomon Islands. For the next three years there was violence in Solomon Islands due military actions. Regions like Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Vanuatu had also witnessed army mutinies (Henderson, 3). Proponents of democracy argue that this form of government leads to economic growth and development but no such thing was seen in case the Pacific. There was a transition of this region from being “an oasis of democracy” to being an “arc of instability” (Reilley, 262). Land issues can be said to be the most important reason for the conflicts. In fact it was the fear of land that started the coup in Fiji in the year 2000. In case of the conflicts observed in Solomon Islands and Bougainville, it involved land, ethnicity, and money as the major issues (Henderson, 10-11). References Larmour, P. “A Foreign Flower”? Democracy in the South Pacific’, Pacific Studies.( 1994), 17.1, 45-77 Lawson, Stephanie. ‘Introduction’ in Tradition versus Democracy in the South Pacific: Fiji, Tonga, and Western Samoa. UK: Cambridge University Press,1996 Bryant-Tokalau, J. and Frazer, I. (eds). Redefining the Pacific: Regionalism Past, Present and Future. England: Ashgate, 2006 Isbister, John. Promises not kept: the betrayal of social change in the Third World. Connecticut: U.S.: West Hartford, 1995 Firth, Stewart. ‘The Pacific Islands and the Globalization Agenda’, The Contemporary Pacific, (2000), 12.1, 178-192 . Firth, Stewart. The Impact of Globalization on the Pacific Islands. Australia: International Labour Organization, 2005 AUSAID. 2008. Making Land Work. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia from: http://www.ausaid.gov.au/publications/pubout.cfm?ID=3363_9223_6836_1452_8140 Henderson, John. & Greg Watson. Securing a Peaceful Pacific. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press, 2005 Reilly, Ben., ‘The Africanisation of the South Pacific’, Australian Journal of International Affairs, (2000), 54.3., 265-268. Murray, Warwick E. And Donovan Storey. ‘Political Conflict in Postcolonial Oceania’, Asia Pacific Viewpoint, (2003) 44.3, 213-224 POLITICS OF THE PACIFIC Critically discuss the implications for the Pacific of the increasing presence of China in this region. Introduction The Pacific group of countries is separated by distance but the only thing that connects them together is the vast Pacific Ocean. The region is sparsely populated and the ocean certainly is very important here. The ocean is in fact considered to be the main provider and even now it is considered to be the main resource in order to survive economically (Kwiatkowska & Dotinga, 167). The region has been rightly named Oceania. It has three sub regions called Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia (Henderson & Reilley, 2). It has been observed that in the past few decades the Pacific group of counties has made immense progress in terms of economic growth compared to other regions. It has also gained a lot of importance in the “global economic order” as well. There has been an increment in both intra- regional and inter- regional flows in the area of trade and investment. There are basically five groups of countries in this region. It ranges from industrial giants like Japan and USA to land rich nations like Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. One can even find rapidly industrialized economies like Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan and along with that there are newly industrialized countries like China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. The Pacific group also has developing nations like Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos (Thompson, 20). The GDP growth in the Pacific group of countries has almost increased twenty times ranging from the period 1960 to 2005 which is indeed an indicator of a good performance. The improved performance of the Pacific group in terms of its GDP can be largely attributed to the performance of China in the economic sphere. In the year 2005, 74 percent of the GDP in this group was contributed by China alone (Tribe, Nixson & Summer, 84). In this context the paper seeks to examine the impact of the presence of China in the Pacific. China’s presence China’s increasing role in the Pacific group of countries has been a widely discussed topic. In the year 2007 sanctions imposed by Australia, New Zealand and United States compelled the self appointed prime minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, to send officials to China in order to improve the relations. There has been mixed reactions regarding China’s rise to power. It is often argued that the rise of China has been beneficial for the Pacific Island states as now they have more opportunities available. However not all other powers in this group are equally enthusiastic about China’s increasing power. Japan’s increase in aid in 2006 to the economically weaker countries of the Pacific group showed there clear uneasiness towards China’s expansion. China’s role in this region has also been a source of concern for Australia but it never said anything openly against its crucial trading partner. The presence of China has been admitted by New Zealand’s Minister for Defense and Pacific Islands Affairs, Phil Goff as a “growing reality” and he has urged China to look into the interests of the Pacific. United States in a tone quite similar to that found during the cold war, declared the need to keep the island states on their side but never mention opposed to which country. The views of political scientists like John Henderson and Benjamin Reilly have been quite straight forward. They have in fact bluntly pointed out the fact that in order to become a major power in the Asia- Pacific, China is “incorporating the Pacific islands.” At present the question is the role that China will play in these states and the response of United States. It is also opined that amidst the competition between the great powers one can expect the Pacific Island societies to face impositions as well as opportunities (Wesley-Smith & Porter, 27-28). China’s global journey China’s transformation from a ruined economy due to its socialistic policies to a global one following the open door policy is a remarkable journey. China is considered to be the fourth largest economy and it has a huge relative strength and purchasing power. China’s rise to power has certainly over shadowed performances in the field of growth of Japan and South Korea after the Second World War China had also faced a lot of internal problems but any sort of an uprising was firmly controlled by the government of China. Remarkable economic performance has been the major reason for China’s success and has played a benign role in its performance in the world stage. The achievement of China in terms of growth is mostly market driven with increased foreign investment and trade. As China has almost exhausted its domestic resources it is now exploring new areas for resources. China’s growing influence in the Pacific Island states has been a source of worry for the US because it is seeing China’s presence as an obstacle to its “own preeminent global role.” The issue of Taiwan has been a very sensitive one. China is not in favor of granting freedom to Taiwan and being a nation which is rising to power, China wants to maintain relationships with other states in order to reduce the possibility of any sort of threats. Apart from that China also wants to increase in its stand the global world and it wants to influence the global world (Wesley-Smith & Porter, 28-30). China’s link with Oceania While tracing China’s connections with Oceania one finds that there is a “deep cultural and historical roots.” The first settlers of Oceania shared a common origin with Taiwan. In the 1700s China was a market for the Pacific Island produce. The recruitment of Chinese laborers in the 19th century to work in Pacific Island plantations and mines resulted in a small but prominent group of Chinese people in these states. The presence of Chinese immigrants was often thought to be the major reason for depressed wages. In 1998, in the Tongan pro- democracy movement it was clearly pointed out that the presence of the Chinese immigrants was affecting the Tongans work opportunities and as a result many Chinese shopkeepers were asked to vacate the area for their own safety. In spite of all the initial problems the Chinese are held in high esteem and their heritage is widely accepted (Henderson & Reilley, 5-6). China and Oceania relation- its impact China’s growing power has affected almost every part of the globe and its impact is felt even in the small isolated countries of Pacific Islands. As mentioned before China’s rise to power has been both a source of opportunities as well as concern for both the countries in the island and the metropolitan powers which had all along enjoyed undisputed power. The major concern has been that China’s power will increase its competition with Taiwan in order to get diplomatic recognition. This in turn will have its impact on the “economic, geopolitical, and geostrategic” part of the region. China’s economic growth has also been a source of bigger market and investment which is free from any bindings unlike those imposed by Western countries. Economic growth and diplomacy in the international sphere has helped China to establish itself as a supreme power. Due to the availability of cheap labor there were a lot foreign investors who came and invested. The expansion of the Chinese business beyond the border helped them to establish contacts with the rest of the world. In the year 2006, Premier Wen had met with the leaders of the Pacific Island countries who have diplomatic relations with China and as a part of that diplomacy promises were made to provide assistance and investment by the Chinese. Investment by Chinese companies in this region would guarantee new opportunities especially in case of industries which extracts natural resources like fisheries, forestry, and mining. A classic example of this was seen in Papua New Guinea where the Ramu nickel and cobalt mine located in the Madang Province of the country was purchased by a Chinese company. It was claimed by the Papua New Guinea Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Paul Tienstern in 2007 that the importance of Chinese investment lies in the fact that it can “turn around the country’s sagging economy.” In countries like Fiji shops were set up by the Chinese textile companies so as to take the benefit of their access to Australian and New Zealand markets (Wesley-Smith & Porter, 134-135). Most of the island states in the Pacific are dependent on aid to a large extent. The reduction of aid from the powerful countries like United States and Britain had made Japan the main donor. However Japanese aid is backed by commercial motive especially to gain access to the region which is rich in tuna resources. Moreover Japan’s aid has been made to “complement its alliance relationship with the United States.” China by contrast has used its aid as a means to compete strategically with the United States and other allies. There are two major reasons which explain why the island countries look up to Asia for aid. Continuous criticisms from the Western donors and their indifference to the needs of the island states have increased their resentment towards the western donors. The aid given by China is more political in nature than economic. Most of the aid had been for the establishment of “prestige projects’ like the construction of a new parliamentary complex in Vanuatu, government office in Samoa, foreign ministry headquarters in Papua New Guinea, and many others. As all the required materials and labor was provided by China so little or nothing development from the economic point of view was witnessed in the recipient countries (Henderson & Reilley, 9). The end of the Cold War witnessed the Western aid donors attaching a lot of different political values like transparency, human rights, government accountability in while making arrangement for aid. Hence when democracy was uprooted in Fiji and Solomon Islands Western donors curtailed their aid to these places. This act was highly criticized. On the contrary no such thing were seen in case of China and as a result China was praised for following the policy “non- interference” which was in sharp contrast to the policies followed by Australia and New Zealand. There was also switching of diplomatic relation from Taiwan to China by Tonga in 1998. This decision was motivated by his personal reasons. The only sound reason given by him was that he disapproved Taiwan adopting democracy and hence switched its diplomatic loyalties. Apart from that a diplomatic relation with China ensured a direct entry for Tonga in the United Nations. Thus here we can see that some countries have also been benefitted due to the presence of China (Henderson & Reilley, 9-10). There is also an economical dimension in China’s interest in the Pacific group of islands. It has been observed that for the Pacific group of countries China is an important trading partner and here the trade balance is heavily in favor of China. China has in fact invested around $800 million in this region. Extensive mineral resources and forestry is found only in Melanesia but due to lack of stability in the political field not much development has been witnessed. Even Micronesia and Polynesia has every little thing to offer which might attract investment. Under such circumstances thorough oceanographic research was undertaken by China which included analysis of the minerals in the seabed in that region. China’s interest in Oceania’s fishing resources sparked a concern in New Zealand in 2001 when Chinese fishing fleet had established a base in Fiji (Henderson & Reilley, 9). As mentioned before the presence of China in the Pacific as also brought many challenges. The labor and environmental standards set up in the countries where China was investing often came in conflict with the Chinese mode of operation. For example, the working conditions of the garment sweat shop in Fiji had been a topic of immense concern. The labor and environmental conditions found at the Ramu mine in Papua New Guinea had also been under the scanner. In fact the conditions over that had provoked remarks from the Labour Secretary of Papua New Guinea, David Tibu. He had said, “The Chinese developer does not seem to have any standards and I will not allow my countrymen and women to be used as slaves.” Security concerns in the Pacific countries due to Chinese presence have also been a major issue. It has been observed that due to the setting up of Chinese business there has been an influx of Chinese citizens who are found to be involved in a number of “undesirable activities” like murder, drug, illegal resource extraction, and smuggling of people. For example, in the year 2000 heroin of 357 grams was seized from a Chinese citizen in Suva, Fiji. The finding of the biggest “methamphetamine laboratory in the Southern hemisphere” in Suva further raised the threats to security due to Chinese presence (Wesley-Smith & Porter, 135-136). The presence of China has also been a topic for debate due to existence of a never ending struggle for diplomatic recognition between China and Taiwan. Located at a distance of about one hundred miles off the southeast coast of the mainland is Taiwan which is a large island province of China. It is separated from the mainland by the Taiwan Straits (Wang, 1). An important aspect of China’s Taiwan policy had been their refusal to give an international space to Taiwan. China’s aim to isolate Taiwan got a boost when the Republic of China (ROC) lost their seat in the United Nations. Since then the diplomatic scuffle between China and Taiwan was ongoing. The quest for freedom by Taiwan is looked upon as a crime by the Chinese and thinks that it is like “splitting of the motherland.” They want Taiwan to accept that they are an integral part of China (Friedman, 41-42). We are aware of the fact that the fight for international space between the People’s Republic of China and the ROC has been the basis of conflict between China and Taiwan. To form a country, sovereignty is a very crucial aspect and China is aware of the fact that if international bodies don’t recognize the legal existence of Taiwan then the issue can be solved easily. Thus all possible methods were applied by China to isolate Taiwan (Friedman, 46-47). The continuous struggle between these two countries results in the entanglement of the other Pacific countries in their competition. As a result there is a division of diplomatic ties between China and Taiwan in case of the independent countries of the Pacific group. There are seven countries which have diplomatic relations with China while six of them have it with Taiwan. The tussle often becomes advantageous for the Pacific countries in the sense that these countries use their competition to extract aid and other types of assistance (Wesley-Smith & Porter, 136). There has also been mixed opinions regarding China’s “assertive” presence in the Pacific. There are island countries which have diplomatic relation with Taiwan but at the same time they are not hesitating to take advantage of trade opportunities with China. A classic example of this can be seen in case of Palau and Solomon islands who are trading with China but they have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. In the same way one finds Papua New Guinea and Fiji trading with Taiwan though they have diplomatic relations with China. According to Susan Windybank the role of China as a major player in that region and its diplomatic competition with Taiwan “is counterproductive” (Wesley-Smith & Porter, 136). China’s presence has always been under the scanner from the Western country’s point of view. However in case of the countries in that group the experience as mentioned before had been mixed and it had affected both China and the concerned country of the Pacific. Solomon Island’s trade relation with China has benefitted them because China provided them a market for their primary products. On the other hand the demand for raw materials in case of China was provided by timber and fish available in the island (Wesley-Smith & Porter, 141). A flow of aid was seen from China to Fiji and long with that there was preferential sugar agreement and special business links were established with the Chinese province by Fiji (Wesley-Smith & Porter, 119). Fiji had always maintained “unofficial cordial ties” with Taiwan though they have official ties with China (Sutter, 157). Concluding remarks The emergence of China as a powerful nation was indeed a remarkable event in history. China’s venturing out beyond its territories to meet its domestic requirement in the Pacific group of countries has been an immensely debated topic especially because the presence of China has always been regarded with suspicion by some. Many writers have pointed out the negative local impacts of China’s presence before assessing the long term impacts. Most of the literature written regarding this has not focused on the welfare of the islanders instead the focus has been on the threat regarding the position of U.S. due to the presence of China. Authors like Henderson and Reilly had projected the presence of China as a threat to global interests. In fact China’s investment in the world market along with its rival powers can prevent any sort of confrontation was completely overlooked. No evidence till now has been given to suggest that any sort of military action is being planned by the Chinese in this region. Further one certainly cannot deny the competition between China and America but China while expanding in Oceania and Caribbean never wanted to challenge the hegemonic power of the U.S. in Latin America and the Caribbean. Thus one finds that the increasing number of China’s activity in this region is motivated by economic need for trade and natural resources to meet domestic demands. Even political interests were also a part of the agenda. At present the interests of China and other powers who are actively operating in this area are any different. References Kwiatkowska, Barbara & Dotinga, Harm. International organizations and the law of the sea: documentary yearbook, Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2001 Tribe, Michael, Nixson, Frederick & Summer, Andrew. Economies and Development Studies, New York: Taylor & Francis, 2009 Thompson, Grahame. Economic dynamism in the Asia-Pacific: the growth of integration and competitiveness, London: Routledge, 1998 Lum, Thomas & Vaughan, Bruce. The Southwest Pacific: U.S. Interests and China’s Growing Influence, FAS, July 6, 2007 from: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL34086.pdf Henderson, John., and Ben Reilley. 2003. ‘Dragon in Paradise: China’s Rising Star in Oceania’. The National Interest, Summer 2003, Vol. 72, pp.94-104. Wang, Yu-san. Foreign policy of the Republic of China on Taiwan: an orthodox approach, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1990 Friedman, Edward. China’s rise, Taiwan’s dilemmas and international peace, New York: Taylor and Francis, 2006 Sutter, Robert. G. Chinese foreign relations: power and policy since the cold war, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010. Wesley-Smith, Terence & Porter, Edgar A. China in Oceania: reshaping the Pacific? New York: Berghahn Books, 2010 Read More