Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s Pacific charm offensive yesterday went off course when he was forced to defend Fiji’s accusations of inaction over climate change.
As Morrison pushed Canberra’s message of a new Pacific focus with increased security and enhanced trade opportunities, he was called out by Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, who turned the spotlight onto climate change.
If Australia shifted away from its coal and mining industries, it would help the survival of Pacific island countries threatened by rising sea levels, Bainimarama said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“From where we are sitting, we cannot imagine how the interests of any single industry can be placed above the welfare of Pacific peoples and vulnerable people in the world over,” Bainimarama said in a speech late on Thursday.
“Rising seas threaten whole communities, forcing them to endure the trauma of relocating from land they’ve endured for generations,” he said. “Fijian farmers are watching their crops perish in soil that has been spoiled by the heightened salinity that is associated with sea level rise.”
Morrison, wrapping up a three-day visit to Fiji and Vanuatu, yesterday told reporters that Australia had commitments on emissions reductions in a “comprehensive response” to climate change, but he gave no specifics on clean energy plans.
“Well, we are already pursuing those policies in a way that I believe is consistent with what [Bainimarama] is expecting of Australia,” Morrison said. “They were discussions we had yesterday, and we have been having very positive discussions about our future investments in this area.”
Morrison stressed the importance of the Pacific to Australia at a time when China is increasing its presence in the region.
He avoided any mention of China, but in a keynote speech in Suva he spoke of strengthening “defense and security cooperation” in the region.
He also reaffirmed Canberra’s commitment to extending trade opportunities in the Pacific, where Australia is often viewed as an unwelcome big brother.
Australia has in the past been accused of paying little regard to the region, while China maintains it is promoting “peace, security and prosperity” and fostering “wide-ranging friendly and cooperative ties.”
On the first visit by an Australian leader to Vanuatu and Fiji, Morrison said that he was turning his nation’s attention to the Pacific, where it “should always have been.”
He also reiterated plans to establish five new diplomatic missions in the region.
On the Chinese microblogging platform Sina Weibo, enthusiastic slackers share their tips: Fill up a thermos with whiskey, do planks or stretches in the work pantry at regular intervals, drink liters of water to prompt lots of trips to the toilet on work time, and, once there, spend time on social media or playing games on your phone. “Not working hard is everyone’s basic right,” one commenter wrote. “With or without legal protection, everyone has the right to not work hard.” Young Chinese people are pushing back against an engrained culture of overwork, and embracing a philosophy of laziness known as “touching
The Palauan president-elect has vowed to stand up to Chinese “bullying” in the Pacific, saying that the archipelago nation is set to stand by its alliances with “true friends,” Taiwan and the US. Surangel Whipps Jr, 52, a supermarket owner and two-time senator from a prominent Palauan family, is to be sworn in as the new president tomorrow, succeeding his brother-in-law, Tommy Remengesau Jr. In a forthright interview, Whipps said that the US had demonstrated over the years that it was a reliable friend of Palau, most recently shown by its delivery of 6,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. “It’s important for
DELIVERING HOPE: The Japanese PM pledged to push ahead with plans to stage the Games, despite polls showing about 80% think they will not or should not happen Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga yesterday vowed to get the COVID-19 pandemic under control and hold the already postponed Olympic Games this summer with ample protection. In a speech opening a new session of parliament, Suga said that his government would revise laws to make disease prevention measures enforceable with penalties and compensation. Early in the pandemic, Japan was able to keep its caseload manageable with nonbinding requests for businesses to close or operate with social distancing, and for people to stay at home, but recent weeks have seen several highs in new cases per day, in part blamed on eased attitudes
‘STUNNED’: With help from an official at the US Department of Justice, Donald Trump reportedly planned to oust the acting attorney general in a bid to overturn the election Former US president Donald Trump was at his Florida resort on Saturday, beginning post-presidency life while US President Joe Biden settled into the White House, but in Washington and beyond, the chaos of the 45th president’s final days in office continued to throw out damaging aftershocks. In yet another earth-shaking report, the New York Times said that Trump plotted with an official at the US Department of Justice to fire the acting attorney general, then force Georgia Republicans to overturn his defeat in that state. Meanwhile, former acting US secretary of defense Christopher Miller made an extraordinary admission, telling Vanity Fair that
RSS