PORT MORESBY, 06 FEBRUARY 2020 (THE NATIONAL) — More than 500 Papua New Guineans, mostly students, are in China, says Health Minister Jelta Wong. He said they were getting daily updates from Chinese authorities, the PNG embassy in Beijing and the Chinese embassy in Port Moresby. “So our embassy knows exactly where they are in […]
Tag: China
Posted inPacific News
The Army is fanning out across the Pacific to make friends and counter China
HONOLULU, 30 JANUARY 2020 (HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER) — About 1,500 Schofield Barracks soldiers, 16 helicopters and hundreds of Humvees, heavy equipment and shipping containers are headed to Thailand for the first stop of Pacific Pathways 2020, an Army approach to bulking up in the region with a light but persistent footprint that follows the “places, not […]
Posted inPacific News
Marshall Islands bans direct travel from China
MAJURO, 27 JANUARY 2020 (RNZ PACIFIC) —- In the midst of mounting global concern about a coronavirus that officials in China say has caused the deaths 15 more people, the Marshall Islands issued a travel advisory Friday night banning travellers coming directly from the People’s Republic of China, where the virus originated. “Any traveller with […]
Posted inPacific News
Japan to hold meeting with island defense chiefs
TOKYO, 24 JANUARY 2020 (NHK WORLD) — Japan’s defense minister has decided to hold a meeting with defense chiefs from Pacific island nations in connection with China’s growing maritime presence in the region. The ministry is to invite officials, including the defense ministers of Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Tonga, to the conference in Tokyo […]
Posted inPacific News
Chinese shops grow while Samoan-owned shops close down, observes Samoan MP
APIA, 24 JANUARY 2020 (SAMOA GLOBAL NEWS) — Member of Parliament for Vaisigano Number 3 Faaulusau Losa Duffy Stowers challenged Parliament to look at reasons why Chinese businesses are growing and taking over Samoan owned shops in the villages. “Chinese shops are developing while Samoan shops are going down. What is the reason, she asked […]
Posted inOpinion
China has Honiara onside but hasn’t yet won over Solomon Islands
SYDNEY, 23 JANUARY 2020 (THE INTERPRETER) — In September, the Solomon Islands government led by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare severed its 36-year diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan) and switched to the People’s Republic of China (China). In the months since, dissenting voices have kept bubbling up. Most prominently, on 26 November, the […]