Urban Governance in Pacific Island Countries: Advancing an overdue agenda

Recently there have been articles in the press in Australia and Papua New Guinea, a Radio National Program and a seminar at The Australian National University on the Chinese in Papua New Guinea and, more broadly, in the Pacific islands. All recognise the increasing importance of the Chinese in the region – in numbers, wealth and political power.1 In Papua New Guinea where the Chinese now outnumber Australians by more than two to one, their presence has particular significance and complexity. Papua New Guinea is clearly different from the other Pacific island states in its size, resources and porous borders. If the Chinese economy is to maintain its rapid expansion, then China has to secure sources of energy and raw materials. That rational and legitimate policy may be expected to be followed – as it has in Africa – with China increasing aid to the point where it exceeds that of many traditional donors and is directed at projects and provided on conditions different from those determined by other major donors. The complexity of the Chinese presence is apparent in any attempt to enumerate the Chinese population in Papua New Guinea: many, arriving independently or as employees of large firms, have entered illegally and do not appear in official statistics; others have entered legally but changed employment and overstayed and so are misrepresented in the statistics; and many are not Chinese by nationality as they have come from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore or the Philippines and correctly do not appear as ‘Chinese’ when immigrants are listed by nationality or place of origin. The statistical obscurity of the Chinese in Papua New Guinea has made it easier for other nations to ignore or be unaware of the implications of varied and expanding Chinese engagement