Page 26 - IB AUG 2018

Politics

‘New Chinese’ a threat to Pacific stability: report

By Dionisia Tabureguci system in Samoa since 2008 might open
the way to the alienation of customary
THE acquisition of land on a large scale land. One Samoan village, Salelologa,
by ‘new’ Chinese in the Pacific region has already prohibited any Chinese-
could potentially be a trigger for insta- owned business on such land in their
bility in the future, a new report has jurisdiction, fearing they might lose it.”
suggested. Although the era of major anti-Chi-
Authored by Dr. Stewart Firth, a Re- nese riots in the Pacific appear to have
search Fellow at the Australia National passed, anti-Chinese sentiments persist
University’s Department of Pacific Af- and manifest themselves in a deeper fear
fairs, College of Asia and the Pacific, among locals of being swamped.
the report is titled: ‘Instability in the “Following a series of attacks on
Pacific Islands: A Status Report’ and Chinese shopkeepers in Tonga in 2016,
was released in June by Lowly Institute, the Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva
a Sydney-based independent policy apologised to the Chinese community,
think tank. Dr Stewart Firth, author of a new report. yet a few months later, he was warning
Apart from providing a general over- Photo: anu.edu.au that Chinese businesses paid no tax
view on the current socio-economic and and would take over the country,” Firth
political status in Pacific Island coun- has had little impact on these Chinese wrote. “As Samoan MP Lealailepule
tries, the report dwelled specifically on small businesses, particularly as they Rimoni Aiafi noted in early 2017: ‘The
six key areas said to have the potency often provide a service that would not truth is it’s so hard for our people to
for instability in the future. otherwise be available,” Firth wrote in compete with the Chinese shops. Our
One of these key areas is immigration, the report. people used to own supermarkets and
which singularly focused on the new “Many Pacific Islanders resent the run their own stores. But it’s hard for
wave of Chinese influx into the region presence of the new Chinese, seeing them to compete with these Chinese
and why this trend could be a ticking them as non-Christian interlopers mo- businesses. As you can see all around
time bomb for social instability in this nopolising construction jobs and small Samoa, most of the supermarkets and
part of the world. business opportunities at the expense wholesales are owned by Chinese.’”
“For the most part, the Pacific Islands of the locals, and corrupting local poli- The report concludes by providing
are countries of emigration rather than ticians. Chinese employers sometimes suggestions on how Australia could
immigration. Chinese migrants are confirm these prejudices by treating strengthen its role as a key development
the exception, making China the only local employees with contempt and lack partner in most Pacific Island countries.
development partner whose citizens of trust, sitting on high stools in their “Australia remains the key eternal
migrate to the Pacific Islands region,” trade stores to supervise, monitor and state to which Pacific Island countries
the report noted. discipline those who work for them. turn for assistance in times of emergen-
Making the distinction between Even the Chinese authorities disown cy, and retains its historical significance
‘old Chinese’ in the region – these are Chinese migrants of this kind. An offi- for the region through myriads of com-
Chinese descendant Pacific Islanders cial inquiry into the 2006 Honiara riots mercial, aid, diplomatic, and personal
whose ancestors arrived a century or by the Guangdong office for Overseas connections, amplified in recent years by
more ago – and ‘new Chinese,’ who are Chinese Affairs concluded that Solomon growing contacts in sport and seasonal
“‘sojourners’ with no intention of stay- Islanders’ assault on Chinese stores was labour schemes. Yet East Asian politi-
ing or becoming citizens,” the report the fault of their owners.” cal, investment, trade and commercial
said these ‘new Chinese’ typically use Anti-Chinese civil disturbances have presence in the Pacific Islands is now
Pacific Islands as a foothold for entry erupted elsewhere in the Pacific – in on such a scale as to reshape the region.
into the more developed countries such Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea in But liberal democratic norms might well
as Australia, New Zealand and the 2009 and in Tonga in 2016, indicating come under increasing threat. Democra-
United States. that increasing Chinese presence was a cy in the Pacific Islands has never been a
Among this new group are the so- sensitive issue for locals. carbon copy of its western counterparts,
called ‘new entrepreneurial migrants’ Land laws that make it easier for in- but the divergence is set to grow wider
who “typically arrive on tourist visas, vestors to acquire customary land has under new pressures.”
pay bribes to immigration officials, or added a potentially explosive dimension On the advance of new Chinese into
walk off fishing boats at Pacific ports.” to these sentiments. the region, Firth advises the strengthen-
“Most are poorly educated, have no Drawing on previous studies done by ing of border controls.
professional or trade qualifications, Samoan academic Dr Iati on the Torrens “Australia should step up its existing
and could not legally enter Pacific Is- title land system in Samoa, Firth said the cooperation with Pacific governments,
land countries. They start small trading potential for a return to conflict remains. especially Papua New Guinea, on tight-
concerns, investing in bakeries, low-end “The most likely source of future ening border controls and immigration
restaurants and clothing stores – trading problems is land ownership,” he wrote. systems, because illegal immigration
activities usually reserved for Pacific “It has been argued for example, that fosters anti-Chinese sentiment in the
Islanders. The occasional police raid the introduction of the Torrens title land region.”

26 Islands Business, August 2018