Pacific Islands Forum a chance for New Zealand to reset strategy, says academic

Wednesday, 13 July 2022

There are growing suspicions Beijing is behind the country’s exit, with Kiribati close to US military installations and marine resources. (First published July 12, 2022.)

New Zealand should look to reset its strategy in the Pacific region to combat China's growing influence, an academic says.

Jane Kelsey, a professor emeritus at the University of Auckland’s faculty of law, says by pursuing its own self-interests, New Zealand has pushed away its Pacific neighbours.

The Pacific Islands Forum began on Monday in Suva, Fiji, and is being headed by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, with Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta also in attendance.

'We have been trying to pursue our self-interests in relation to the Pacific Island countries and the Pacific Islands Forum for too long,” Kelsey said.

* Solomon Islands-China security deal is 'gravely concerning', Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says

Jacinda Ardern is heading the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji this week which is viewed as an opportunity to address China’s growing influence in the region.

* Foreign Minister Nanania Mahuta says China-Solomon Islands security deal will not benefit NZ or Pacific neighbours

'That is part of what has underpinned Pacific Island countries’ willingness to engage with other countries, especially China, that provides them with some balance.'

Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta launched the changes to legislation that eased the creation of Māori wards. (File photo)

Kelsey, who won the global category at the New Zealand Women of Influence Awards in 2020 and is a leading academic and commentator on neo-liberalism and international trade policies, said New Zealand needed to rethink how it could be a better development partner with the Pacific.

'If we are going to be good Pacific partners, we need to allow Pacific Island countries to determine their own future, exercise their sovereignty and provide funding support that is necessary for them to do so.'

She criticised the US-led Partners in the Blue Pacific arrangement which New Zealand signed in June, describing it as “naked self-interest of the US and Australia, New Zealand as allies”.

'I think there is not a great level of trust based on the way that benign neglect and self-interested aid funding has operated in the past,” Kelsey said.

'New Zealand has got a lot of work to do and it needs to change the way it approaches this, and certainly not through the kinds of deals the US has been pushing.

'Pacific Island countries are not new to superpower rivalries and certainly not to colonial interests, and they are not just passive players in this,” Kelsey said.

'They will be viewing China as a means to have more leverage in how they are able to pursue their priorities.'

Kiribati pulled out of the forum over the weekend, citing failures to address the issues of Micronesian countries. On Tuesday, the Marshall Islands and the Cook Islands also walked away.

'The Micronesian states have for some time been concerned that they are marginalised in the forum and we are seeing that coming to a head,” Kelsey said.

'That of course has got overshadowed by a range of superpower positioning within the region but I don't think that is actually behind what has been happening.”

Mahuta has been approached for comment.