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 […]
Tag: China
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 […]
Posted inWorld News
Huawei exec’s extradition hearing begins in Canada
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The first stage of an extradition hearing for a senior executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei begins Monday in a Vancouver courtroom, a case that has infuriated Beijing, caused a diplomatic uproar and added to tensions between China and the United States. Canada’s arrest of chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, […]
Posted inWorld News
China counts sharp rise in coronavirus cases, 2 in Beijing
BEIJING (AP) — China reported Monday a sharp rise in the number of people infected with a new coronavirus, including the first cases in the capital. The outbreak coincides with the country’s busiest travel period, as millions board trains and planes for the Lunar New Year holidays. Health authorities in the central city of Wuhan, […]
Posted inOpinion
Comparing China’s and Taiwan’s aid to the Pacific
SYDNEY, 20 JANUARY 2020 (DEVPOLICY BLOG) — In September 2019, after 36 years, Solomon Islands severed its diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (hereafter Taiwan) and established formal relations with the People’s Republic of China (hereafter China). A Solomon Islands parliamentary bipartisan task force had reviewed relations with China and Taiwan and recommended the […]