¡°Australia should learn what is called respect.¡±

Pacific Island CountriesVanuatuWhen carrying out police cooperation with China, neighboring countries are pointing fingers and chattering endlessly, which is unbearable.

According to a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on September 26th, Vanuatu Interior Minister Andrew Napuat pointed out in an exclusive interview that the country has the right to make its own decisions, and Australia should respect and understand them. At the same time, he attacked Australian Minister of Pacific Affairs Pat Conroy's previous remarks, saying that the latter showed "arrogance" and "ignorance".

Vanuatu Interior Minister Andrew Napuat Australian media

Last week, Napuat visited China and met with Chinese officials in Beijing.

Earlier this week, Napout told the media that he would work with China to push its police capabilities to become more formal and he revealed that the two countries would sign a new memorandum of understanding to consolidate and improve China¡¯s police assistance program in the country.

The news immediately caught the attention of its neighbor Australia.

When Conroy spoke on the subject on 24 local time, he reduced this to ¡°personal remarks by a particular minister in Vanuatu.¡±

Conroy claimed in an interview: "This specific minister's remarks about his desire to explore the possible signing of a memorandum of understanding between China and that country are not surprising. We have always been honest with Australians that we are in a state of permanent competition in the Pacific region to become the preferred partner of neighboring countries in the security field. We respect the autonomy of Vanuatu's government and people, and we will wait and see."

Asked if he thought other Vanuatu ministers would oppose the plan, Conroy declined to speculate.

In an interview with ABC, Napout expressed his disappointment locally, arguing that Conroy seemed to be hinting that he was acting unilaterally.

¡°These are statements made by our friends, showing arrogance and ignorance of statements made by our government,¡± Napout noted, ¡°I respect his freedom of speech and his rights, but he also needs to respect our internal procedures here and verify the facts.¡±

ABC said that Australia is deeply disturbed by China's continued increasing influence in the Pacific region, and has repeatedly brought out the 2022 Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders' Communique, saying that the communique supports "a Pacific family-first peace and security approach".

In this regard, Napuat said that Pacific countries "respect" the PIF statement, but "in the final analysis" have to make their own decisions.

"We don't think there is any contradiction in this," he told ABC. "No matter what is decided at the level of (PIF leaders), all Pacific island countries respect it. But in the final analysis, these agreements will not limit each sovereign country's choice in its foreign relations."

Regarding police cooperation, Napout explained that the proposed memorandum would ¡°formalize the work that the two sides have already carried out jointly.¡± he added: ¡°I will not say this will formalize some form of permanent existence, which is a simple memorandum of understanding that guides the work we need to carry out jointly.

China's Police Expert Group Leads Police Skills Training in Vanuatu

The Australian government hasly hoped to sign an agreement to consolidate its position as a major development and security partner in Vanuatu, while limiting China¡¯s presence in the region.

But Nappate said China¡¯s police cooperation had nothing to do with Australia, and that the country had previously informed Australian officials of the police¡¯s memorandum of understanding.

"Australia is very clear that we have told them bluntly that we just want to sort out the way we manage our relationship with our partnership, and we will sign a memorandum of understanding with China," he pointed out. He did not specify exactly when the memorandum might be signed, but said that Vanuatu is close to the "final state" and the two countries are ready to put pen to paper and sign the contract.

Napout also said security discussions were ¡°a bit tricky to some extent¡± as Vanuatu¡¯s main security concerns, including building police capabilities and tackling climate change, sometimes differed from security priorities in partner countries.

¡°Given the various geopolitical games that are going on in different parts of the world, their interests may not have anything to do with us,¡± he told ABC, ¡°our development partners need to sit down with us and talk so that they can fully understand our needs and then we can work together to solve issues that better meet our people¡¯s needs.¡±

At a regular press conference on September 23, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Vanuatu said in an interview with local media that he would work with China to promote its police capabilities to be more formal.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiangkun responded that China will continue to cooperate with Vanuatu on the basis of mutual respect, equal consultation, mutual benefit and openness and inclusion.China will continue to provide support in accordance with Vanuatu's wishes and needs, strengthen friendly exchanges and cooperation in all fields, and benefit the two countries and the people of both countries.

Guo Jiangkun said that on the specific issues you mentioned, it is recommended that the competent authorities of the Chinese side understand.

The Observer Network.