Roundup: China's positive role recognized, commended at Samoa symposium

China's positive role in the Pacific region was recognized and commended during a symposium that concluded on Friday in Samoan capital of Apia.

Co-organized by the Center for Oceania Studies at China's Sun Yat-sen University, the National University of Samoa and New Zealand Contemporary China Research Center at Victoria University of Wellington, the three-day conference, themed "China and the Pacific: The view from Oceania", took a multidisciplinary approach to examining Pacific island perspectives on China's evolving relations with countries in the Pacific region. Scholars and officials from China and the Oceania took the opportunity to exchange views on China's role in the region.

While paying his state visit to Fiji and meeting leaders of eight Pacific island countries that have diplomatic relations with China last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China sincerely hopes to share experience and achievement of development with the island countries and welcomes them to take a ride on the Chinese " express train" of development.

Those remarks were echoed in the conference.

Noting that "Samoa's own contact with China dates back to the Chinese labor migrants in the early part of the last century" and "There is little doubt of China's present strong and increasing influence in the Pacific", Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi spoke highly of China's positive role in the region.

"The official diplomatic relations between Samoa and China were established 40 years ago in 1975...Although for many years Samoa's relationship with China grew only incrementally, we nevertheless recognized and appreciated very much what to us was clearly a very genuine effort by Beijing in that earlier period to deepen the relationship. The leaps and bounds since are a much more recent phenomenon that paralleled China's own growing economic strength," Tuilaepa said.

"Samoa from the beginning of official recognition of China adhered to the One China Policy and found comforting that the interactions between the two countries have always been characterized by mutual respect for sovereignty, integrity and close friendship," Tuilaepa said,

"These principles in my view were again very well reflected in President Xi Jinping's thematic presentation for the ' establishment of a strategic partnership of mutual respect and common development' made to Pacific leaders attending the summit meeting in Nadi in November last year."

The Samoan prime minister used his personal experience to justify China's commitment to being a major country that has a strong sense of responsibility.

"In my own visits to China made over several years before and after I became prime minister, I noticed each time I visited, new additional and large areas of China planted with trees and greenery, even around the road from Beijing's airport to the city, " he said.

"It was evidence to see and reinforced the announced efforts of China to address the global issue of Climate Change close to the hearts of all our Pacific countries."

Recognizing that "China's opening to the world and its emergence as a major growing industrial power is one of the most significant - and positive - global developments of the past 30 years", Auelua S. Enari, chief executive officer for Samoa's Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour, also commended China's increasingly important role in the region.

"A prosperous and outward-looking China is a vital component of international security and regional economic prosperity. The rise of China has been rightly described by many as the most important strategic trend of our times in the Asia-Pacific region," Auelua told the conference.

"China continues to be instrumental in her support towards development of Samoa's infrastructure which in many ways supports our continuing efforts towards creation of an enabling environment for investment in Samoa," Auelua said.

"To-date, with China's support, we have a modern Sport and Aquatic Center, excellent conference facilities which were utilized in hosting the recent Small Islands Developing States Conference; an impressive hospital, an x-ray machine and several volunteer doctors, donation...to Samoa to fund its education policies and other facilities."

"The capital, the market and the skills that Chinese investors bring could be of benefit in strengthening the development of Samoa. The resource sector and the tourism sectors have held the most obvious potential, but other sectors including fisheries aquaculture may offer opportunities as well," said Auelua.

Prof. Yu Changsen, executive deputy director of the Center for Oceania Studies at Sun Yat-sen University said China's assistance to Pacific island countries is in accordance with their national conditions.

"China's infrastructure assistance has solved the lack of infrastructure problems in many island countries, and is welcomed by the island countries, which I think is a good deed." Yu told Xinhua.

"On assistance towards Pacific island countries, China now ranks the third on the donor list, right after Australia and New Zealand, which I think is a very rapid progress," Yu said.

"The holding of this conference is undoubtedly in the context of the development of relations between China and Pacific island countries by leaps and bounds," he added. Endi