Pacific Islands leaders will endorse a A$400 million funding plan by Australia, they said on Wednesday. The plan aims to improve police training and create a mobile regional policing unit. Canberra aims to reduce China’s security footprint in the pacific region.
The leaders of Tonga, Fiji, Palau and Papua New Guinea are hopeful that the programme would assist the island states. They aim to tackle issues such as drug trafficking, illegal fishing and economic crimes across the region.
“The entire Pacific is the biggest unpoliced space on planet earth,” Papua New Guinea’s PM James Marape said.
Papua New Guinea will host the first of four police training centres with help from Australia, he said. These centres will be built across the region under the Pacific Policing Initiative.
The purpose of the initiative is to create a multi-country police force. This force can be deployed to countries in the region, in event of major crises or occasions.
The plan was agreed by consensus, during the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga. Following this, Australia PM Anthony Albanese said that a coordination hub will be hosted in Brisbane.
Pacific Unity
Australia and New Zealand have historically provided policing support to the region in crises. However, the new model will boost the ability for Pacific Islands to play a greater role.
“Sovereign nation states will determine how they participate in this, but this is an ongoing process led by the Pacific police and police chiefs for the Pacific, with backing, substantial financial backing, from Australia,” Albanese said.
“By working together, the security of the entire region will be much stronger and will be looked after by ourselves,” he added.
Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jr said his nation was hit by three major cybersecurity incidents last year. He said the initiative was “an effort for all of us to work together to solve the security challenges that we have”.
Tonga’s Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni said members of the 18-nation Pacific Islands Forum had discretion to decide how they participate. This came in after diplomats from Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, both with close ties to Beijing, earlier expressed reservations.
China has been a major infrastructure lender in the region and is now seeking a greater role in policing.
Australia has previously said there should be “no role” for China in policing the Pacific Islands. Wednesday’s initiative seeks to reduce the need for countries in the region to turn for help to China, which already has police operating in Solomon Islands and Kiribati.
(with inputs from Reuters)
