australia pushes pacific island nations to establish joint police force
2024-08-29
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australian prime minister albanese announced at a press conference in tonga on the 28th that leaders of pacific island countries agreed to establish a multinational pacific police force. behind him are the government leaders of papua new guinea, palau, fiji and tonga. (the paper)
australian prime minister albanese announced on the 28th that the ongoing pacific islands forum heads of government meeting agreed to a joint policing plan to establish a multinational pacific police force. according to agence france-presse, under the plan, australia will invest 400 million australian dollars (1 australian dollar is about 5 yuan) to establish a team of about 200 police officers from pacific island countries, who will be invited to hot spots when needed to help deal with civil unrest and natural disasters in various countries. the australian broadcasting corporation called this a "strategic victory" for the country. china was frequently mentioned in the press conference held by albanese and in foreign media reports that day. many media interpreted that the initiative was to "contain china from playing a greater role in the security of the south pacific region." however, the australian financial review said that even if the initiative is passed, the leaders of the south pacific island countries are still free to reach a security agreement with china. when asked about related issues on the 28th, chinese foreign ministry spokesman lin jian said: "china advocates that all parties work together for the development and revitalization of the pacific island countries."a large police center will be set upthe pacific islands forum has 18 members, including australia, new zealand, fiji, tonga, papua new guinea, vanuatu, solomon islands, tuvalu, etc. the purpose of the forum is to strengthen cooperation and coordination among members in the fields of trade, economic development, aviation, shipping, telecommunications, energy, tourism, education and other issues of common concern. however, in recent years, foreign policy coordination and regional cooperation in the fields of politics and security have been strengthened. the forum generally holds a heads of government meeting once a year, which is held in each member country or region in turn. this year's summit was held in tonga.according to afp, on the 28th, albanese, accompanied by the leaders of fiji, palau, papua new guinea and tonga, held a press conference to announce the news. he praised the adoption of the initiative as an important step forward in security in the pacific region and a "great achievement". albanese said that although the plan is funded by australia, it is an ongoing process led by national police in the pacific region. he said: "through joint efforts, security in the entire (pacific) region will become stronger and managed by ourselves."reuters said the initiative will build a large police training and coordination center in brisbane, the capital of queensland, australia, and establish four "excellence" police centers in pacific island countries. the first police center will be located in papua new guinea. leaders of tonga, fiji, palau and papua new guinea said the plan will assist pacific island countries in combating drug trafficking, illegal fishing and economic crimes across tens of thousands of kilometers of ocean. papua new guinea prime minister marape said the region is "the largest uncontrolled area on earth."according to the transcript of the press conference released by the australian prime minister's office, several reporters asked albanese and others questions related to china: "how do you ensure that the plan is led by pacific island countries, rather than aimed at countering china's influence as european countries have suggested? have these concerns appeared in your discussions?" "you have just reiterated many times that sovereign states will decide for themselves how to participate in the initiative. does this mean that not all forum members need to participate, and are members allowed to conduct police cooperation activities with other countries (such as china)?"in his response, albanese said the initiative would not be imposed on all countries and that each country would decide for itself whether it needed help. "this initiative is about the pacific family managing the security of the pacific region and has nothing to do with any other country," he said.internal divisions remainaccording to afp, australia's joint policing plan is seen as an attempt to limit china's security role in the region, sparking controversy. baker, permanent secretary of the solomon islands ministry of foreign affairs, said the country will discuss the plan domestically before making a final decision. "things are still going on, and the forum is not over yet," he said.according to the australian broadcasting corporation, the prime minister of vanuatu and the leaders of the melanesian spearhead group (msg), which consists of fiji, papua new guinea, the solomon islands and vanuatu, warned that australia and new zealand should not use the joint policing plan to exclude other countries. at a meeting on the evening of the 27th, some national leaders of the msg questioned the "ambiguity" of the joint policing plan, and the group's director-general, loma, said that the initiative "must truly meet the demands of pacific island countries, rather than being part of the geostrategic exclusivity of major powers." according to the report, vanuatu prime minister salwai echoed this view in a statement, saying that it is necessary to ensure that the formulation of the initiative "is in line with the demands of island countries, rather than to accommodate the geostrategic interests and geo-exclusive security posture of major power partners."the guardian said that china and the united states are dialogue partners of the pacific islands forum and regularly send high-level delegations to attend its summits. the sydney morning herald reported that us deputy secretary of state campbell's visit to tonga to attend the pacific islands forum summit reflects the united states' attention to the region. during the visit, campbell will also go to vanuatu to participate in the activities of the newly established us embassy."godsend"?chen hong, director of the australian studies center at east china normal university, said in an interview with the global times on the 28th that the mechanism of the pacific islands forum is that as long as one of the members disagrees, the relevant initiative cannot be established. therefore, it remains to be seen how the joint policing plan initiated by australia will be implemented."strategic victory", "godsend", "a major diplomatic victory for australia" - australian media used various flattering words on the 28th to describe the political significance of the initiative to australia.chen hong analyzed that, in essence, this joint police plan is based on geopolitical considerations and is intended to exclude china from the south pacific region. the objective fact is that china has no political motivation for the south pacific region and has no military presence in the south pacific region. he said that some south pacific island countries have a poor domestic security situation and have an urgent need to deal with public security issues. china's police cooperation with these island countries is characterized by adapting to local conditions, that is, providing equipment assistance and sending instructors for personnel training according to local needs. the west generalizes these cooperation as so-called "national security threats" in an attempt to demonize china. ▲
