The leaders of Australia and New Zealand met yesterday to discuss pouring more aid into the struggling South Pacific region to prevent it from becoming a haven for international criminals.
But Australian Prime Minister John Howard and New Zealand's Helen Clark stressed that millions of dollars in aid from the two regional powers will come with an important condition.
"Our very clear message is that we want to help but a condition of that help has to be rooting out corruption," Howard said, hours before the opening of a three-day summit of the 16-nation Pacific Islands Forum.
Clark agreed, saying nations providing aid would demand "good governance" in return.
Howard, Clark and the other 14 leaders gathered at a traditional Maori meeting hall perched on a hill overlooking Auckland harbor. Spear-waving Maori warriors welcomed them with songs, prayers and the "hongi" -- the traditional Maori pressing-of-noses.
Many struggling South Pacific nations have been plagued by corruption and mismanagement of their frail economies, turning the region into what Australia fears is an arc of instability that could be exploited by gun runners, people smugglers and terrorists.
An Australian senate committee this week recommended the region adopt a single currency pegged to the Australian dollar as a way of bolstering ailing economies, but the idea has received a cool welcome from forum delegates in this northern New Zealand city, which is home to tens of thousands of South Pacific migrants who left their homes in search of jobs.
Howard, who said a common currency "isn't on the radar screen" and a common labor market "well down the track," also has floated a plan for small nations to pool their political and economic resources to create a more stable region.
He said a small state unable to provide all the services it needs, might work together with others.
Fiji premier Laisenia Qarase -- who took power at elections in 2001 that restored his nation to democracy after a 2000 coup -- said Howard's plan would be discussed at the meeting.
"I think this process of regional ... integration will have to develop slowly over time," Qarase said.
He said tying aid to eliminating corruption was "the right of the donor countries" just as aid takers "have the right to choose whether we accept that aid."
Corruption was not unique to the region, he said.
He rejected accusations that Australia's plan amounted to neocolonialism that would erode the sovereignty of small states.
"The sovereignty and independence of every state is a fundamental principle of the UN, and Australia and New Zealand are great believers in that principle," he said.
The Pacific Islands Forum is made up of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese