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CANBERRA/TARAWA, July 8, 2024 (AAP) – Australian officials are being given the cold shoulder in Kiribati amid concerns China is wooing the country.
A senior foreign ministry official confirmed to Reuters that visa applications were being delayed or rejected because work on a treaty with Kiribati, which was due to be completed a year ago, has been put on indefinite hold. American AP Association.
While Australia is not the only country to be left out of the presidency, there are concerns that strained relations could leave a hole for China.
The senior official confirmed that Karen Bray, Australia’s high commissioner to be appointed in April 2023, had been stuck because of paperwork delays over the past few months.
Bray mentioned American AP Association Coming back to the department, the department does not comment on individual visas.
Sources said limited processing capacity within Kiribati’s small public service and problems with visa applications exacerbated delays.
This issue has now been resolved.
An Australian naval officer who helps oversee patrol boat operations for the Kiribati police force (the country has no army) was also deported and banned from entering the country for two years for delaying the submission of documentation.
The second ship is expected to arrive as early as July and will send a new crew to Kiribati to assist local forces.
President Taneti Maamau’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
While officials pointed to technical problems with using the visas as cover, it was seen as demonstrating a broad disregard for Australia and its traditional partners.
Two people familiar with the matter told reporters that a delegation from the Pacific Media Assistance Program, which the department describes as “Australia’s flagship program to support a stronger and more independent media sector in the Pacific,” was also unable to gain access. United States General Association.
We contacted delivery partner ABC for comment.
One source said the visit had been postponed until September, after Taiwan’s election.
The final text of the new comprehensive bilateral strategic partnership agreement was supposed to be agreed by July 2023, according to a memorandum of understanding signed earlier that year.
But the talks were put on hold at the request of the President of Kiribati, who wanted to wait until a new government was elected.
A spokesman for Pacific Minister Pat Conroy said: “Australia will remain patient and continue to demonstrate that we remain a reliable and valued partner.”
The memo has not been made public but has been The United Nations General Assembly, This includes a section on Australia’s cooperation with Kiribati on border and policing.
It also includes a commitment to expand police barracks and support for local police forces, including training.
Designs for police barracks have been completed, with construction expected to begin later this year, and “expanded police training is being implemented under the Pacific Police Development Program,” the department confirmed.
However, despite Conroy’s warning that China would play no role in policing across the region, uniformed Chinese police have been involved in community policing and training since at least early 2024.
Australian David Lambourne, who had lived in Kiribati for nearly 30 years and sat on the Tarawa High Court, was sacked and ultimately deported after a legal victory against the president.
The judge who ruled in his favour was also removed during the lengthy legal process and he was asked to leave a farewell event hosted by the president for outgoing Australian High Commissioner David Yardley.
Department officials previously told a parliamentary hearing that Australia had concerns about the rule of law in Kiribati.
Australian officials have been careful to keep their meetings with his wife, Opposition Leader Tessie Lambourne, from the spotlight.
Academics were also denied entry, a move some saw as an effort to avoid media scrutiny.
High-level diplomatic visits were suspended ahead of the election at the request of Kiribati, but Australia is making progress in implementing some of the commitments outlined in the memorandum.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Malcolm Davis said delays or non-extensions of Australian visas were concerning because they suggested China may have influenced the Kiribati government.
Dr Davis said this highlighted China’s larger goal of pushing Australia and the United States out of the region.
“Obviously, their aim is to infiltrate the government there and gain real influence and control,” he said.
Under Maamau’s leadership, Kiribati switched its diplomatic allies from Taipei to Beijing in 2019 as the Chinese Communist Party sought recognition as China’s sole government to distance itself from Taiwan.
An Australian legal expert, who spoke publicly about the case on condition of anonymity, said while China had not driven the breakdown of the rule of law, the shift in diplomatic relations loomed over the Mahmood government because Lambourne had served as ambassador to Taiwan.
Experts say Lambourn’s ouster is designed to undermine the opposition leader.
Lambourne accused China of being behind Mahmud’s withdrawal from the Pacific Islands Forum in July 2022.
The visit by Kiribati’s foreign minister comes months after Beijing’s attempt to reach a security agreement with 10 Pacific nations was rebuffed by countries in the region.
Fiji rejoined the regional organization in January 2023 following a diplomatic push by its new prime minister.
Riley Duke, co-author of the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Aid Map, said Kiribati also benefited from a large cash injection after switching diplomatic allies.
The analyst, who maps aid and development across the Pacific, noted that China had poured money in since establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan, while Australia typically only provided between $US30 million ($20 million) and $US45 million ($30 million) in aid each year.
He noted that the centerpiece of China’s policy shift was a $US60 million ($40.41 million) aid package, including a commercial aircraft that Taiwan refused to finance, which represented about 20 percent of Taiwan’s GDP.
He said Beijing was now competing with Australia for the atoll nation’s top donor status, a position that had been largely undisputed in the past.
The strategically located country is located between Australia and the United States and is close to Hawaii, home to the headquarters of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
Dr Davis expressed concern about China’s increasing use of grey zone tactics, describing it as an “iron fist with a soft exterior and a strong interior”.
He said this could come in the form of surveillance drones or coast guard vessels that once belonged to the Chinese navy and were designed to help Kiribati monitor its waters but also serve as a de facto military presence… PACNEWS
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