Showing posts with label South Pacific. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Pacific. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Ethnic clashes in Papua New Guinea
Despite its intense coverage of events in Fiji, New Zealand's mainstream media has been noticeably quiet about the latest clashes between Chinese immigrants and ethnic New Guineans in Papua New Guinea.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
The NZ Media's Pacific Agenda
In the New Zealand media there has been conspicuously limited coverage of the recent ethnic tensions in Tonga.
During the rioting in the nations capital in November 2006 eight Chinese immigrants were killed and a large section of the city was destroyed by fire. A number of ethnic Tongans are currently on trial for inciting violence and damaging property.
However, the story has been given little coverage on New Zeland television. This has been particularly noticeable on the left-of-centre TV One News.
In contrast, there has been extensive coverage of the Fiji coup even though the events in Fiji have unfolded peacefully and have had little real impact on New Zealand. Although many New Zealanders do have property in Fiji this doesn’t really explain the media’s intense fascination with the country’s politics. The last coup in Fiji had very little impact on New Zealand citizens living in Fiji or owning property there.
Furthermore, there are probably just as many Tongans living in New Zealand as ethnic Fijians, so it seems odd that the media is neglecting events that are directly relavant to this section of the population.
The coverage of events in Fiji also glosses over the significant ethnic tensions between native Fijians and Indian immigrants. Hence, it appears that the media wishes to downplay the problems of ethnic tensions in the region for fear that this might play into the hands of limited immigration advocates. Meanwhile it wishes to show that problems with democracy in Fiji are due to a small number of nativist military leaders and that western style democracy will prosper if the military are kept in check.
However, one of the primary reasons why Fiji is prone to military takeovers is because its democratic government is corrupt and inefficient- a trait it shares with most other government’s in the region. Despite what Helen Clarke and the NZ media may think, New Zealand is not going to be able to turn the South Pacific into a model region of democracy and prosperity.
As a successful western country, New Zealand should not be looking at the region through rose- tinted glasses.
During the rioting in the nations capital in November 2006 eight Chinese immigrants were killed and a large section of the city was destroyed by fire. A number of ethnic Tongans are currently on trial for inciting violence and damaging property.
However, the story has been given little coverage on New Zeland television. This has been particularly noticeable on the left-of-centre TV One News.
In contrast, there has been extensive coverage of the Fiji coup even though the events in Fiji have unfolded peacefully and have had little real impact on New Zealand. Although many New Zealanders do have property in Fiji this doesn’t really explain the media’s intense fascination with the country’s politics. The last coup in Fiji had very little impact on New Zealand citizens living in Fiji or owning property there.
Furthermore, there are probably just as many Tongans living in New Zealand as ethnic Fijians, so it seems odd that the media is neglecting events that are directly relavant to this section of the population.
The coverage of events in Fiji also glosses over the significant ethnic tensions between native Fijians and Indian immigrants. Hence, it appears that the media wishes to downplay the problems of ethnic tensions in the region for fear that this might play into the hands of limited immigration advocates. Meanwhile it wishes to show that problems with democracy in Fiji are due to a small number of nativist military leaders and that western style democracy will prosper if the military are kept in check.
However, one of the primary reasons why Fiji is prone to military takeovers is because its democratic government is corrupt and inefficient- a trait it shares with most other government’s in the region. Despite what Helen Clarke and the NZ media may think, New Zealand is not going to be able to turn the South Pacific into a model region of democracy and prosperity.
As a successful western country, New Zealand should not be looking at the region through rose- tinted glasses.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Tonga's "World on Fire"
The recent riots in Tonga highlight the dangers of liberal immigration policies in non-democratic states. In the recent rioting eight Chinese immigrants have been killed and large sections of the capital, Nuku 'alofa, burnt down by elements of the native Tongan population.
According to the Taipei Times, over 1000 Chinese took refuge in police stations and The Chinese Embassy from the rioters. This unrest follows rioting against Chinese immigrants in the Solomon Islands capital Honiara. However, it the first time that such violence has been seen in a Polynesian city.
Although low-level corruption is a prominent feature of Polynesian politics, ethnic violence represents a new and disturbing development.
Over the last decade the Chinese population in Tonga has grown rapidly and Chinese businessmen now own 72 percent of businesses in Nuku 'alofa. On this poor island state, where the main source of income is remittance money from New Zealand and Australia, there is considerable resentment against highly successful Chinese immigrants.
The dangers associated with economically successful East Asians moving into economically backward states are highlighted in Amy Chua’s best selling book World on Fire. In the case of Tonga, the recent surge in Chinese immigration has been promoted by certain members of the Tongan Royal Family who are desperate to attract foreign investment into the near bankrupt country.
However, since Tonga is a non-democratic monarchy, ethnic Tongans have been unable to voice their growing unease at the rapid pace of Chinese immigration. Subsequently, this resentment has exploded in the form of serious rioting, and the resulting destruction will only add to the country’s economic woes.
As Chinese immigration has increased, native Tongans have become increasingly angry that Chinese merchants have bought in Chinese labourers to do labouring work instead of employing locals. Unfortunately though, in countries with corrupt unstable governments such clannishness is par for the course, since people can only trust those with which they have strong informal ties.
In New Zealand, the liberal left often criticises New Zealand First for tapping into popular discontent with expansive immigration policies - particularly when this discontent is reflected in opinion polls.
However, it doesn’t seem to dawn on these critics that “populist” parties like New Zealand First provide a barometer for the government to gauge the public’s mood over immigration. This allows the state to temper its policies and avoid the kind of ethnic conflict that is occurring in the South Pacific.
New Zealand First’s strong showing in the 2002 election directly influenced the Government’s decision to temporarily reduce immigrant intakes and set tougher English language requirements for perspective Asian immigrants.
According to the Taipei Times, over 1000 Chinese took refuge in police stations and The Chinese Embassy from the rioters. This unrest follows rioting against Chinese immigrants in the Solomon Islands capital Honiara. However, it the first time that such violence has been seen in a Polynesian city.
Although low-level corruption is a prominent feature of Polynesian politics, ethnic violence represents a new and disturbing development.
Over the last decade the Chinese population in Tonga has grown rapidly and Chinese businessmen now own 72 percent of businesses in Nuku 'alofa. On this poor island state, where the main source of income is remittance money from New Zealand and Australia, there is considerable resentment against highly successful Chinese immigrants.
The dangers associated with economically successful East Asians moving into economically backward states are highlighted in Amy Chua’s best selling book World on Fire. In the case of Tonga, the recent surge in Chinese immigration has been promoted by certain members of the Tongan Royal Family who are desperate to attract foreign investment into the near bankrupt country.
However, since Tonga is a non-democratic monarchy, ethnic Tongans have been unable to voice their growing unease at the rapid pace of Chinese immigration. Subsequently, this resentment has exploded in the form of serious rioting, and the resulting destruction will only add to the country’s economic woes.
As Chinese immigration has increased, native Tongans have become increasingly angry that Chinese merchants have bought in Chinese labourers to do labouring work instead of employing locals. Unfortunately though, in countries with corrupt unstable governments such clannishness is par for the course, since people can only trust those with which they have strong informal ties.
In New Zealand, the liberal left often criticises New Zealand First for tapping into popular discontent with expansive immigration policies - particularly when this discontent is reflected in opinion polls.
However, it doesn’t seem to dawn on these critics that “populist” parties like New Zealand First provide a barometer for the government to gauge the public’s mood over immigration. This allows the state to temper its policies and avoid the kind of ethnic conflict that is occurring in the South Pacific.
New Zealand First’s strong showing in the 2002 election directly influenced the Government’s decision to temporarily reduce immigrant intakes and set tougher English language requirements for perspective Asian immigrants.
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