Fiji investigates allegations of Chinese spying

VOICE OF AMERICA

Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka vowed to investigate whether the Chinese Communist Party spied on a senior Pacific leader while he visited the island nation.

David Panuelo, outgoing president of the Federated States of Micronesia, alleged to his country’s legislature that Chinese agents followed him in Fiji. An outspoken Beijing critic, he also has accused the People’s Republic of China (PRC) of bribing local politicians and violating Micronesia’s sovereignty.

Rabuka, speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corp’s The Pacific program, said the spying allegation in Fiji was not proven, though it would be taken seriously. “For someone to feel threatened by another power while in the dominion of Fiji, is almost a slap in the face,” Rabuka said. “So, we need to be sure that actually happened, and if it did happen, how do we address it?”

Rabuka, pictured, became Fiji’s prime minister for the third time in December 2022. He led two military coups in 1987 and led the country in the 1990s.

PRC officials have not responded to the allegations.

Rabuka has continued his predecessor’s gradual diplomatic shift away from Beijing, despite Fiji and the PRC having had security and policing agreements for more than a decade. In early 2023, the prime minister canceled a key law enforcement accord with the PRC because of differences in the countries’ legal systems.

In 2022, the PRC signed a security accord with the Solomon Islands, a strategically located island chain northeast of Australia. The PRC later that year failed to persuade other Pacific Island Countries to join a broader accord, but Australia and its allies remain concerned about Beijing’s growing military and diplomatic ambitions in the South Pacific.

IMAGE CREDIT: GETTY