Chapter Eight
130
hinted at or explicitly stated. For example, the “communist giant’s”^30
authoritarian system was constantly factored into the media coverage of
Beijing’s “remarkable warmth towards the latest unelected Fijian
government.”^31 In substance, China was accused of sabotaging Canberra
and Wellington’s policies and programmes for fostering good governance
standards and social development in Fiji and the Pacific Island countries.
Although numerous articles examined by Sullivan and Renz “noted
positive effects arising from China’s economic activities in the region,
economic actors are often portrayed as uniquely calculated, opportunistic
and uncaring.”^32 Similarly, economic cooperation with Beijing is denounced
as exclusively in China’s interests. This assertion is often coupled with the
remark that the Chinese flood the Islands with low-quality goods while
exploiting their natural resources.^33
Moreover, Chinese companies and investors, unlike those from
Western countries, are depicted as driven only by greed.^34 According to
this narrative, Chinese investments hardly benefit local economies, and
Beijing systematically assists its companies with hiring Chinese
contractors and cheap labour from the motherland. Where the local
economies have benefited from employment opportunities created by the
Chinese, local workers have nevertheless been suffering because of the
poor safety conditions and mobbing by their Asian employers. “Such is
China’s disregard for liberal economic norms and indifference to human
and labour rights that it seeks, as asserted in one article,”^35 “to pay
overtime with tinned fish rather than cash.”^36 Also, “look for the China
connection!” seems to be the slogan for any debate on local problems in
the Pacific Islands. For example, China has been criticized for the
environmental costs embedded in each plastic bottle of Fiji Water, because
the bottle production plant in China “runs on diesel fuel, 24 hours a day.”^37
Providing infrastructure is probably China’s favourite avenue of aid,
because buildings, roads, and port facilities are tangible and impressive.
However, they can also turn into cases of heterogenesis of ends and
exercises in bad publicity. The Pacific Islands, Western media solicitously
(^30) Skehan, “Pawns in a Diplomatic Poker Game.”
(^31) Hanson, “Don’t Ignore the Big New Player in Fiji.”
(^32) Sullivan and Renz, “Representing China in the South Pacific”, 386.
(^33) Renee Shie, “Rising Chinese Influence in the South Pacific: Beijing’s ‘Island
Fever’”, 307-326.
(^34) Undercurrent News, “Australian fear for Chinese government subsidies.”
(^35) Sullivan and Renz, “Representing China in the South Pacific”, 387.
(^36) Sydney Morning Herald, “China: the New Big Buddy on Our Block”.
(^37) Check Out Talk, “Fiji Water: Artesian Water or Environmental Nightmare?”