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Articles by Daniel Flitton
Lana Nusseibeh’s Palestinian Roots Add a New Twist to the UN Leadership Race
The Emirati diplomat’s entry into the race raises questions about Washington’s support, the UAE’s foreign policy and Latin America’s claim to the UN’s top job. Long rumored as a potential candidate to lead the United Nations, Emirati diplomat Lana Nusseibeh has finally thrown her hat in the ring at the eleventh hour. The 47-year-old candidate is considered highly capable by several diplomats who spoke to Envoy. However, her country’s human rights record raises concerns for some.
Australia Is Not Ready to Declare the Old World Order Dead
Anthony Albanese, into his fourth year as Australia’s prime minister, can still be a little prickly when challenged by the media. Asked recently about Canadian counterpart Mark Carney—who just a year into his own job won applause at Davos for calling out the “rupture in the world order”—Albanese bristled at the suggestion that as Australia’s leader he wouldn’t dare speak with the same frankness.
In Delaware, meeting at a wobbly Quad high table
The Quad is wobbly. As a piece of diplomatic furniture, four legs imply steadiness, and that is certainly what the leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States hope to convey as they prepare for a summit (September 21-23) in U.S. President Joe Biden’s home State of Delaware on Saturday. A united group of democracies, standing firm in the face of regional challengers. Subtext, read: China.
In the aftermath: landslide in PNG’s Enga province
"The whole side of the mountain dropped and within minutes it started raining rocks and stones. It was like the end of the world. People were shouting and screaming and running for their lives… When I came back to my senses, I imagined my husband fleeing with our children to safety and that we would reunite after a few days.
Pariah states and the Olympic Games
As the world eagerly anticipates the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the intersection of international politics and sport once again takes centre stage. The participation of so-called “rogue states” (or pariah states) in the Olympic Games has long been a contentious issue, with Russia’s involvement being particularly controversial given its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
How many PALM workers are in Australia?
A few months ago we noticed a large discrepancy between the number of Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme (PALM) workers reported by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) and the number of PALM workers in country according to visa data from the Department of Home Affairs, with the latter number being significantly lower. And now DEWR Secretary Natalie James has admitted, in her opening statement to Senate Estimates (3 June), to an “incorrect calculation of worker data”.
China’s spluttering growth engines
In cities and towns across China, up to 80 million properties sit vacant – the cumulative result of decades of overbuilding driven by speculative demand that is now exacerbating the parlous state of the country’s provincial economies. Provincial government land markets and local government financing vehicles (LGFVs) may seem arcane and far removed from global trade. But in reality, they have served as the edifice upon which China’s now slowing investment-led growth model has been built.
From Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence to Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind
Seventy years ago, the Chinese leadership together with India and Myanmar, advocated the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. It conformed to the trend for national independence and liberation in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and answered the very important question of how to handle state-to-state relations. Today, the world stands once again at a historical crossroad. China has answered the call of the times by proposing a community with a shared future for mankind.
Who is Chinese Premier, Li Qiang?
Who is Chinese Premier, Li Qiang? That’s the question the Australian government from Anthony Albanese down will be trying to answer during Li’s four-day visit to Australia, the first by a Chinese leader of his seniority since 2017. Li’s titles alone in theory give him great stature and weight. As Premier, he sits atop the State Council, or cabinet, which in turn makes him head of the country’s sprawling government apparatus.
Rare earths vs rarer resources: Global ripples from Australia’s divestment decision
The Australian government has issued a directive for five foreign companies with links to China to divest their stakes in Northern Minerals Limited within two months. The mining consortium is seeking to produce dysprosium, a heavy rare earth element used in powerful magnets for electric vehicles, industrial robotics and wind turbines, as well as advanced weapons systems.
Remarks: FesPAC the largest gathering of indigenous people
On behalf of the Pacific Community, I thank the organisers for the opportunity to say a few words this afternoon. I pay homage to the indigenous people of this land, the Kanaka Maoli or first peoples of Havaii on whose land we are now gathered and acknowledge the cultures and traditions of this land and her people who have welcomed us so graciously as host of this much anticipated, 13th Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture.
China’s contributions are a blind spot in global climate finance
Developing countries face massive costs to meet the challenges posed by climate change. This year, world leaders will come together at the UN climate talks in Azerbaijan to agree to a new global target for the provision of climate finance. The existing goal of US$100 billion per year by 2020 was met by wealthy donor governments, but two years late. It also fell well short of needs, which are expected soar to around US$2.4 trillion annually by 2030 in the developing world (excluding China).
Australia’s nuclear energy debate doesn’t have to be partisan
Australia is investing billions of dollars as part of its AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines program. It will take years to be delivered. The enormous cost of this program contrasts with the small possibility that it will ever be used, yet many countries including Australia enhance their defence capability based on the theory that it will deter future conflicts. But this is where Australia’s current relationship with nuclear technologies seems to be at odds with itself.
Helping our children
This month, I had one goal in mind and that is to help more children in Samoa read. The foundations of learning keep me up at night. I think of all the children in my family and my district needing help with basic literacy and numeracy. Isn’t this the first step to success? If our statistics in early education and primary education are dire, why aren’t more people helping? Why aren’t more educated and adults helping? Are we just waiting for a handout? We begin in our little corner.
Agents of Change – Making all countries in Asia and the Pacific more dynamic, healthier, wealthier, and better
We all know that we live in a changing world. In the vast area of Asia and the Pacific that change is most evident. Over the past 20 years, the economies of many nations in the region have been moving out of the category of ‘least developed’ and graduating into a ‘middle income’ status. However, the positive changes that help to make our lives better, healthier, and more prosperous, are not happening at the same time equally across all countries, or even equitably within them.
Stumbling giant: Germany cuts aid
As far as foreign aid goes, Germany stands as one of the world’s giants. In 2022, Germany was the OECD’s second largest donor by volume, after the US, and was the EU’s largest bilateral provider. In terms of aid as proportion of gross national income (GNI), it is by far the most generous country in the G7 cohort of large, advanced economies.
China’s message problem in PNG
Last month, China signed a significant deal with Papua New Guinea, a downstream processing agreement to manufacture products using locally sourced nickel and cobalt. With this agreement, China is signalling a preparedness to help PNG industrialise. And it is exactly the kind of development pursued by PNG Prime Minister James Marape under his slogan to make the country the “Richest Black Christian Nation”.
Samoa Observer | Happy Farming
I started growing kava, ginger, turmeric, cucumber, and other crops on my farm during the Covid lockdown and it was rewarding. Not only did we get to eat healthy from our backyard but also managed to sell harvest at the market. I lost my good workers to RSE and the farm was neglected when I was busy with other projects. The grass and bees took over. Last week, I decided to restart the farm. My cousin and his workers helped with the grass.
Pacific migration in 2024: seven things to watch out for
If you want a reminder just how far Australian Pacific migration policy has come, read the 2006 Pacific Economic Bulletin article by veteran journalist and commentator Graeme Dobell, “Australia confronts its Pacific taboo: labour mobility”.
A new China loan threatens Vanuatu’s debt outlook
Several Pacific nations have experienced a spike in public debt in recent years due to Covid-related border closures, trade disruptions, and climate-related disasters. Vanuatu, like its regional counterparts, was substantially affected. But its fiscal situation remained manageable, mostly because it was able to draw upon large cash reserves built up before the pandemic. Vanuatu’s debt outlook, however, could rapidly deteriorate.
Justice Vui's letter to M.A.F.: No evidence to ban paraquat - Rubbish!!
I refer to your recent press release referring to “a stakeholder consultation held in December 2023” on the issue of paraquat use in Samoa and the ‘Pesticide Management Group Analysis, a joint report thereon in collaboration with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Correcting our vision
A few years ago, just before COVID hit, I decided to have Lasik eye surgery. It is a laser vision correction, a type of refractive surgery for the correction of myopia, and hyperopia, and an actual cure for astigmatism. Even though I didn’t need my glasses all the time, it was restrictive when it came to driving, exercising, sports, and activities. It was even more of a hassle after having a baby who started grabbing onto things. If you wear corrective lenses or glasses, you know the restrictions.
Is AUKUS Pillar I unworkable?
The AUKUS security pact is an ambitious undertaking. The sale of three to five Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs) to Australia in the early 2030s would be just the second time the United States has shared the “crown jewels” of its military technology with another country. But today the industrial base for the construction of US submarines can’t meet the force level requirements of its own navy, much less sell several of its most valuable warfighting assets to an ally.
Pacific Islands: Spillover threats from transnational organised crime
Is the Pacific prepared for a potential spillover of transnational organised crime from Southeast Asia? This question has become more pressing in recent days following two massive drug busts in Fiji, where authorities seized an estimated 4.1 tonnes of methamphetamine. The investigation is still in its early stages, so the suspected source of the drugs has not been made public.
Tonga walks a tightrope on its Chinese debts
Tonga’s debt burden is set to balloon over the next five years as the deadline looms on loans from China. Repayments will see the country’s debt burden rise to among the highest in the world. Only Bhutan, Laos and Djibouti will devote a greater share of national income to servicing bilateral debts this financial year. Tonga’s government revenue is higher than similarly debt burdened nations. But the scale of the repayments remains staggering.
Visa-free travel: A chance to reignite the Pacific voyage
Voyaging is a fundamental part of the Pacific. It ties Pasifika peoples, cultures and economies together across thousands of years of history. The tradition of voyaging remains alive via organisations such as the Polynesian Voyaging Society, which commenced modern voyages in the 1970s. The Polynesian Voyaging Society’s vessel Hōkūle‘a was the first in the modern era to use traditional knowledge to navigate across national borders, successfully crossing the ocean from Hawai’i to Tahiti in 1975.
Samoa Observer | A new Porgera?
Sometimes writing headlines is just too easy: “The new Porgera: old wine, new bottles” would have been a simple summary of the recent news that, following the passing of new legislation by the Papua New Guinea parliament, the Porgera gold mine reopened on 22 December 2023, and will pour its first gold in nearly four years in the first quarter of 2024. To recap briefly, the Porgera mine opened in 1990, producing four million ounces of gold in its first four years of operation.
Nauru's decision indicates Pacific Islands' trust in China
There is an old South Pacific Island fisherman's proverb that goes something like this in Samoan language, "Aua ete tilotilo i le i'a ae manumanu le upega." It means – "Don't only look at the fish but cherish the net." On January 15, 2024, Nauru President David Adeang proclaimed on local media in Nauru and on international media outlets that Nauru was emphatic and resolute – in that – the moment of truth and sovereignty had arrived.
Nauru’s diplomatic switch to China – the rising stakes in Pacific geopolitics
Nauru’s decision to switch diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China has nothing to do with Australia. It reflects the intense geopolitical competition in the Pacific and the sustained, but not always visible, push from China to erode diplomatic support for Taiwan and further isolate the country. With the switch, China has strengthened its position in the region. There are now only three Pacific countries that still recognise Taiwan (Tuvalu, Marshall Islands and Palau).
A shared future and a new chapter for China-Samoa relations
Talofa lava, dear Samoan friends! It’s a pleasure to “meet” you all on Samoa Observer. On January 16th, as the new Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the Independent State of Samoa, with great honour, I presented the Letter of Credence to the Member of the Council of Deputies, Afioga Le Mamea Tuiletufuga Ropati Mualia. When I arrived in Samoa on January 1st, I was greeted with the beautiful scenery and the enthusiasm and smiles of Samoan people.
One year, three agreements: shaping thinking on regional security
It’s been a busy 12 months for security negotiators in DFAT’s Office of the Pacific. The last year saw the signing – although not yet the ratification; that’s another story – of bilateral security agreements with Vanuatu (December 2022), Tuvalu (November 2023) and Papua New Guinea (December 2023). Each of these agreements is specific to the relationship it covers. Even so, it can be instructive to set them side by side.
Medical training in Samoa - Part 5
The article by Ms Enid Westerlund Samuelu on the 26th October 2023 and 29th October 2023 in the Samoa Observer, discussed the Samoan Government Overseas Treatment Scheme. Enid spoke to Professor Papalii Benjamin who is one of the Professors of the OUM in Samoa, in getting access to specialist care for our local people in Samoa.
Medical training in Samoa - Part 2
The medical training is long and hard. Those who desire to do medicine must have the passion, determination and commitment to study the long hours and synthesize tons of materials of the medical course. The NUS SOM’s medical degree is an undergraduate medical degree, called Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS). The MBBS course is a 6-year degree, ending up with two (2) Bachelors back-to-back.
Medical training in Samoa - Part 1
Many people in Samoa have continued to ask about the pathways to becoming a medical doctor. The majority of the public, especially parents, do not understand what is involved in the six years of study to become a medical doctor. Even amongst the local University community and many government agencies, the majority do not understand the training pathways of a medical doctor. Samoa has developed its capability to train doctors locally since 2002.
A jurisdiction over the high seas
After nearly two decades of discussion and negotiation, on 5 March the United Nations announced a new agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Referred to as the BBNJ agreement – Biodiversity Beyond Areas of National Jurisdiction – the text is an important step towards protecting and preserving marine ecosystems in the largest natural habitat on Earth.
Samoa Observer | Small changes
Over a thousand years ago, there was a form of torture and execution practiced in China and Vietnam known as Lingchi. Lingchi is translated as the slow process, the lingering death, or slow slicing, and was also nicknamed “Death by a Thousand Cuts” (Ahmjad, 2020). In this form of execution, a knife was used to methodically remove portions of the body over an extended period, eventually resulting in death.
Conservation Matters: Samoa Conservation Society in 2023
2023 was another big year for the Samoa Conservation Society and our conservation partners. But what is conservation and why does it matter, you may ask? Conservation means the “preservation and protection of something, especially the planned management of a natural resource to prevent exploitation, destruction, or neglect” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Conservation matters for many reasons.
Samoa Observer | The palm tree
Kiora, from the Land of the Long white clouds! There is something to be said when you are sitting at an airport during New Year’s Eve catching another flight to see family. Flying back to a place where you used to live four years ago when things seemed the same yet different. I remember things differently, and I cherish those memories of being a new mother and having to do most of the work on my own.
Lithium, lightest metal on earth, carries heavy geopolitical weight
“Control oil and you control nations,” former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once said. Today, it could be argued that to control lithium – white oil as it were – is to control nations. Lithium has become a critical mineral in green technologies, with lithium-ion batteries used to power electric vehicles, and to store wind and solar energy. Like oil, lithium, is not evenly distributed in the world.
Samoa Observer | A new song
A single moment etched in time, shining brightly like a star in a midnight sky, an eon, an instant, a million years pressed into one, when all stands still and life explodes. into infinite dreams, all is changed. forevermore in the blink of an eye. I hope everyone had a great and safe Christmas with family and loved ones wherever you are. What are your hopes for the new year?
Samoa Observer | Congratulations!
I attended a beautiful wedding this morning (Saturday). Sunrise wedding and finished before 9:30 am, the kind of wedding I love, short, sweet, and good dancing. Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Solo! God bless your new family and may the love of Christ become the foundation of your marriage. Despite the cloudy weather, guests turned up on time and the program was followed by the MC to a tee. Malo lava.
Questions on race relations follow NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon across the ditch
When New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon arrived in Australia for his first state visit, a problem grown at home followed him across the ditch. The leaders of The Māori Party had accused Luxon of being responsible for the worst decline in race relations in his country "since the early stages of colonisation" after a raft of policy changes.
AUKUS: The pillars of Hercules
AUKUS is Herculean in scale, complexity, and concept. But rather than connecting the waters of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as Hercules did, it unites the Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific in one of the most ambitious and demanding endeavours I have seen in my life, for Australia to acquire conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines. This is not the stuff of whimsy.
Is the sun setting on the era of Bainimarama and FijiFirst?
The long-running row between the former Fiji government and the Suva-based University of the South Pacific (USP) has come back to haunt former Fiji prime minister Frank Bainimarama, who spent a night in a police cell on 9 March before appearing in court, charged with abuse of office.
The Opposition’s opposition to the Pacific Engagement Visa
On Tuesday in Australia’s Parliament the Opposition decided to oppose the supporting legislation to implement the Pacific Engagement Visa (PEV), an election commitment of the new government to provide permanent residency to 3,000 Pacific islanders per year through a lottery. Shadow Minister for Immigration Dan Tehan gave a lengthy speech prosecuting the Opposition’s case.
Rumsfeld: Defiance Defined by Iraq
The countless observations about the quips of Donald Rumsfeld, who has died aged 88, should not obscure his central role in the catastrophe of the 2003 Iraq invasion. “Known unknowns” became the most famous, even serving as the title for an Errol Morris documentary. But Rumsfeld’s pugnacious gift for a pithy quote also delivered “old Europe”, a snide dismissal of widespread concern about the legality of America’s actions from treaty allies France and Germany.
The Reach of Rwanda's Spies
The Reach of Rwanda's Spies A story of spies and deception and the deadly consequences of crossing a tiny nation in the heart of Africa. Read Full Article »
The US, not China, is Australia's most difficult relationship
The United States is Australia’s most challenging foreign relationship. This is not due to Donald Trump, or the disputed election. The same will be true if Joe Biden sits in the White House. And no, the problems of dealing with China don’t yet come anywhere close.
Commentary: Everything a post-lockdown new normal needs we haven't thought about enough
MELBOURNE: We don’t give much thought to a flushing toilet, until the damn thing is broken. The same goes for the footpath that runs out the front of the house. A ribbon of smooth concrete serves as an unconscious guide for our feet, unless it’s cracked and potholed, transforming what is intended as a community service into an obstacle to avoid.
COVID-19: Voices From Asia
Australia The pandemic and tensions with China are creating a wedge between Canberra and Washington. Blog Post by Daniel Flitton May 11, 2020 Asia Unbound Asia The country has kept its number of cases relatively low by reacting immediately, decisively, and with a degree of severity.
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