China in the Pacific Islands: Beyond the ‘Bad Dragon’ Narrative
137logic of the Pacific Island states in choosing their partners as well as the
attractiveness of China in comparison to the other aid donors’ appeal.^84
In the words of Philippa Brant: “Until recently, the dominant Western
discourse has presented China’s increased engagement in the South Pacific
region as a ‘threat’ to Western (in this case primarily Australia and New
Zealand) strategic and development objectives, and has tended to
characterize China as a ‘bully’ or ‘dragon’ of which South Pacific nations
should be wary.”^85 Australia and New Zealand have traditionally regarded
the Pacific Islands region as “their special patch,” and their aid policies
have vehemently insisted on governance standards and economic
liberalization. Australia has also played a significant role as security
provider of last resort–as epitomized by the Regional Assistance Mission
to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI).^86 The failed/failing state and Melanesian
Arc of instability discourses have been employed to corroborate a
muscular approach of “forcing” development assistance onto the Pacific
Island nations.^87
In addition, Canberra and Wellington are currently trying to negotiate a
regional free trade agreement known as PACER Plus, but many Pacific
governments and NGOs have expressed their concern over the potential
effects of the agreement.^88 As a mantic complement to such assertiveness,
Western scrutators fathoming China’s grand strategic thinking argue that
Beijing harbours a master plan to weaken Western presence and interests
in the region,^89 and that it is actively pursuing the Sinicization of the South
Pacific through the emigration of Chinese nationals, hence causing a
further destabilization of the Island states.^90 Albeit the negative China
narrative is increasingly under the scrutiny of factual scholarship, the
symbolic mass it has agglutinated still exerts a strong gravitational pull in
policymaking and think-tank circles,^91 while China’s activism in the
Pacific seems to have revived the embers of long-standing donors’
(^84) Mellen, “A Pacific Island Prefers Chinese Investment to U.S. Welfare.”
(^85) Brant, “Chinese Aid in the South Pacific: Linked to Resources?”, 165.
(^86) Sodhi, “Five Out of Ten: A Performance Report on the Regional Assistance
Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI).”
(^87) Dobell, “PNG’s golden era: political and security challenges in PNG and their
implications for Australia”, 1-3. See also: Hameiri,“RAMSI: The Inconvenient
Truth.”
(^88) Morgan, “PACER-Plus: Where to now for regional trade policy in the Pacific?”
(^89) Wallis, “The dragon in our backyard: the strategic consequences of China’s
increased presence in the South Pacific.”
(^90) Lintner, “The Sinicizing of the South Pacific.”
(^91) Hanson, “The big clumsy panda in the Pacific.”