Australia and New Zealand's South Pacific Diplomacy: Seeking to Balance China's Regional Engagement

China's ties to the South Pacific have grown substantially since the early years of the twenty-first century. Its regional engagement has been driven by the long-standing diplomatic competition with Taiwan, the ‘going global' of Chinese entrepreneurs and companies, and the concerted efforts of the Chinese Government, recently under the label of the Belt and Road Initiative, to bring the region into China's orbit. The traditional dominant powers in the region, Australia and New Zealand, have upped their game in the past few years to counter Chinese activities, trying to make sure that China does not become a hegemon in the region. Pacific Island countries (PICs) themselves have welcomed both China's growing engagement and the two Australasian allies' regional initiatives as these activities provide them with greater options and agency. For the foreseeable future, Australia and New Zealand will probably provide the bulk of development co-operation to PICs. Their support for the region as a whole also contrasts with China's preference for bilateralism. Whereas the Australian Government's climate policy (or lack thereof) limits its potential for regional influence, New Zealand has made climate policy an important strand of its regional policy. Both countries have the potential to provide regional leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic by extending their planned COVID-safe travel zone to the South Pacific—if circumstances allow them to. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

The China Alternative. Changing Regional Order in the Pacific Islands

The presence of China poses a challenge to the dominance of Western powers and their allies, who have set the agenda in the Pacific since the end of the Second World War. [...]today, the region has been characterised by (post-)colonial power structures. In her opening remarks, Dame Meg Taylor clearly states that the Pacific Island states regard the presence of China in the region as a positive development because it gives PIF countries access to markets, technology, financing and infrastructure. The Boe Declaration of the PIF meeting in 2018, which states that "climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific" (ix) - is the principal element of efforts by Pacific Island state leaders to implement the "Blue Pacific" concept and stands in stark contrast to the environmental and security policy of PIF member country Australia as well as that of the previous Trump administration. In Australia alone, economic damage caused each year by Beijing's punitive actions in response to bans on Huawei equipment (Australia excludes the Chinese company from the country's 5G roll-out) and COVID-19 demands (Canberra's call for an independent investigation into the origins of the virus) runs into the billions annually.

Stakeholder perceptions of the impacts of aviation subsidies in the South Pacific Region

This study examines the impacts of aviation subsidy programmes in the South Pacific Region (SPR). Interviews and thematic analysis were conducted to understand the perspectives of key stakeholders of aviation subsidies in the SPR. It was found that SPR countries are heavily reliant on aviation subsidies for the development and sustainability of their aviation industries. Aviation subsidy programmes are nevertheless subject to political influence and misuse. It is well recognised that aviation subsidy programmes in the SPR facilitate airfare affordability, flight accessibility and service sustainability. They may also positively impact tourism development, social wellbeing and economic wellbeing in SPR countries, but adversely impact the region's environmental wellbeing. Our findings suggest that formal aviation subsidy frameworks (i.e. customized, environmentally friendly) should be established for SPR countries, possibly in a similar vein to those used in developed markets. Generally, the adverse impacts of COVID-19 on aviation, tourism and economic development in the SPR call for a collective, regional and cross-sectional approach to help SPR countries recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Contentious Role of Tourism in Disaster Response and Recovery in Vanuatu

Tourism is a key contributor to the economy of the Pacific Island country Vanuatu. Yet many Ni-Vanuatu have seen their access to natural resources lost or reduced as a consequence of foreign investment in the tourism industry and associated land leases, while few community members found secure employment in the tourism sector to compensate for those losses. The tension between externally driven tourism development and local resource access has been exacerbated in the aftermath of 2015 Tropical Cyclone Pam which caused extensive damage both to the tourism industry and local communities. Employing a tourism-disaster-conflict nexus lens and drawing on semi-structured interviews with hotel managers, research conversations with hotel staff and community members, and focus group discussions with community leaders, this study examines how the tourism sector has impacted post-disaster response and recovery, particularly in terms of land relations and rural livelihoods. Findings suggest that tourism can be a double-edged sword for disaster-prone communities. While resorts play an important role as first responders, their contributions to post-disaster recovery processes remain ambiguous and marred by tensions between expatriate investors and indigenous Ni-Vanuatu people. These findings also hold lessons for the tourism crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic in the South Pacific and elsewhere. Copyright © 2021 Neef.

Projecting populations for major Pacific Island countries with and without COVID-19: pro-active insights for population policy.

The paper projects aggregate populations of six Pacific Island countries in both pre- and post-COVID19 scenarios using a Cohort Component Method for the period 2020-2060. It uses baseline indicators resembling China and Italy's experiences and finds that Pacific countries could experience a fatality rate between 5 and 20% due to the pandemic. It also finds that most Pacific Island countries would experience higher fatalities in the older age groups, consistent with what is being witnessed in other countries around the world. The analysis also shows that while the risk escalates for people over 50 years onward in all other sample countries, in Fiji, those in the age range of 60 years or more are at higher risk. The findings also indicate that for all countries, the fatality rate for 80 years and older is about 50%. The population projections show that Fiji will be most impacted, while others will experience around 2% initial population decline. The convergence to baseline is found to be slow (except for Tonga) in most Pacific countries. Consequently, the paper suggests a cautious approach in dealing with the current crisis.