Pacific country must ‘maintain independence’ in security partnerships, military commander warns, amid spread of deals struck with other countries
striking deals with other countries such as China to boost security and policing, saying it could pose a risk to sovereignty.with countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Most of the pacts and initiatives are with Australia, followed by New Zealand, the US and China.
“There is a growing need for more security and policing cooperation in the Pacific to address the evolving security challenges facing the region,” Fiji military forces commander Maj Gen Jone Kalouniwai, said.Suva, Fiji. Some in Fiji’s police force have questioned whether the country should use international partners, such as China, to carry out policing work.
China’s role in the country has stirred tension over a policing agreement first signed in 2011 that in the past, allowed Fijian officers to be trained in China, and Chinese police to be embedded in the Fijian force.Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and former Fiji prime minister Frank Bainimarama at press conference in Suva, in 2022.Beijing despite earlier concerns within the Pacific nation over the deal - but Chinese officers would no longer be embedded in the local force.
Given their location, Pacific countries hold strategic importance for security and defence. The US has long maintained influence and a military presence in the region, andRalulu said Beijing had stamped its growing interest in the region through its aid such as in Solomon Islands, whereRalulu said Fiji should be cautious about China’s presence in Fiji and the region, saying the rise of China had coincided with an increase in drugs and criminal activities in Fiji.
“Australia, New Zealand and the United States, we need to stick to that,” he said, also saying that Fiji needed assistance from international donors to train and adequately resource its police and defence forces.University of the South Pacific head of the school of law and social sciences, Sandra Tarte, said Fiji needed policing partnerships to combat transnational and domestic crime – while adding that there are potential dangers involved with partnerships.
“It gives Fiji more leverage in its dealing with other countries being in partnership with China … it is very important that Fiji is acting with its own interest in mind.”
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