PM Vanuatu: Kami ada untuk penentuan nasib sendiri West Papua

Delegasi para pemimpin perjuangan Papua Merdeka bertemu Perdana Menteri Vanuatu di Port Vila, Vanuatu Rabu (21/12) – dailypost.vu

Jayapura, Jubi – Perdana Menteri Vanuatu, Charlot Salwai menegaskan kembali posisi negaranya mendukung West Papua tidak berubah sejak merdeka 36 tahun lalu. Vanuatu, menurutnya, akan selalu mendukung West Papua menyuarakan isu pelanggaran HAM dan kemerdekaan rakyat Melanesia di West Papua.

Salwai menegaskan posisi negaranya itu di hadapan sekitar 50 orang delegasi para pemimpin perjuangan Papua Merdeka yang saat ini berada di Port Vila, Vanuatu guna menghadiri pertemuan MSG, yang baru saja selesai. Salwai pastikan bahwa posisinya negaranya “tidak berubah dan tidak akan berubah”.

Seperti dilaporkan Daily Post Vanuatu, Rabu (22/12/2016), pemerintah Vanuatu bahkan memastikan bahwa seluruh masyarakat Vanuatu dari mulai para pejabat negara, gereja, kelompok-kelompok perempuan dan anak muda sudah memobilisasi diri untuk mendukung kemerdekaan rakyat West Papua.

“Kebijakan historis pemerintah kami tidak berubah sejak kemerdekaan 36 tahun lalu terhadap Kaledonia Baru, French Polynesia, dan West Papua untuk memenangkan penentuan nasib sendiri,”

ujar Salwai.

Mesipun MSG masih terpecah suaranya terkait posisi keanggotaan penuh terhadap ULMWP, Perdana Menteri Salwai, seperti dilansir RNZI (22/12) menegaskan dirinya merasa sangat senang atas kemajuan yang dicapai sejauh ini terkait kampanye internasional West Papua.

Benny Wenda, juru bicara United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) dalam kesempatan itu menyatakan bahwa mimpi besar para delegasi Papua yang hadir serta doa bagi para pemimpin Melanesia di MSG dengan ujung tombak Vanuatu, adalah memberi keanggotaan penuh pada West Papua di organisasi tersebut.

Wenda sangat optimis saat melihat bagaimana para pemimpin perjuangan untuk West Papua saling berjabat tangan dengan hangat dan bicara satu bahasa di Port Vila, “Itu menunjukkan bahwa mereka dan masyarakat Melanesia di West Papua terikat oleh satu semangat yang sama guna mengikat para pemimpin Melanesia di MSG untuk member keanggotaan penuh bagi kami,” ujar Wenda.

Pemimpin Vanuatu yang hadir mendampingi Perdana Menteri pada kesempatan itu termasuk Wakil Perdana Menteri, Joe Natuman, Kementerian Pertanahan Ralph Regenvanu dan Sekretaris Parlemen Johnny Koanapo. Mereka semua menyambut hangat delegasi West Papua.

Menanggapi ratusan penangkapan, termasuk anak-anak, di Papua yang terjadi pada protes Hari Trikora 19 Desember lalu, Benny Wenda mengaku sangat kecewa sekaligus heran.

“Entah bagaimana Indonesia mau jelaskan penahanan yang mereka lakukan, dan penghancuran sekretariat ULMWP padahal di saat yang sama mereka, kolonial itu, juga menjadi anggota associate di MSG,” ujar Wenda.(*)

December 24, 2016 0

MSG foreign ministers discuss membership

Melanesian Spearhead Group foreign ministers are this evening meeting in Vanuatu’s capital to discuss guidelines which relate to a West Papuan bid for membership in the group.

MSG senior officials met yesterday in Port Vila and, as with today’s foreign ministers meeting, the findings of a constitutional committee review of MSG rules on membership are the main agenda item.

This comes as the MSG considers a full membership application by the United Liberation Movement for West Papua.

Vanuatu prime minister Charlot Salwai accepts traditional head dress from the United Liberation Movement for West Papua. Photo: Len Garae

The foreign minister of Solomon Islands, Milner Tozaka, said the MSG leaders in July requested legal clarification on guidelines for membership.

“So that request has been attended to appropriately by the legal people and they have made a recommendation to be used for the foreign ministers to look at and then we will recommend it to the leaders for endorsement,” he explained.

Milner Tozaka confirms there won’t be a decision this week on the full membership application by the Liberation Movement, which already has observer status.

The leaders of the MSG member states are not expected to have their summit until early in the new year.

The Movement’s leaders are present at this week’s MSG meetings in Port Vila, along with leaders of all the main pro-independence groups.

Vanuatu’s prime minister Charlot Salwai has reiterated his country’s support for the Liberation Movement to be give full membership, as well as for West Papua to be independent.

Mr Salwai said his country’s foreign policy remained firm that Vanuatu is not completely free of colonial bondage until all of Melanesia is free.

It’s understood that Solomon Islands and New Caledonia’s FLNKS Kanaks movement are also in support on the matter of the MSG membership.

However the other two full members of the MSG, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, have tended to side with Indonesia on this issue.

Indonesia, which has associate member status at the MSG, is firmly opposed to West Papuans being granted full membership in the group.

Jakarta says Papuans are already covered by the Indonesian republic in terms of representation in the MSG.

December 21, 2016 0

MSG meetings in Vila not expected to decide on Papuan bid

A series of Melanesian Spearhead Group meetings are taking place this week in Vanuatu’s capital to look at the group’s membership guidelines.

Last month, the MSG secretariat scheduled this week’s meeting in Port Vila for leaders of its members to discuss a West Papuan bid for full membership.

However there will not be a leaders summit component at this week’s meetings, with the expectation that they will now meet early in the new year.

An Indonesian captures the Melanesian Spearhead Group proceedings, 20 December 2016 in Port Vila, on device. West Papuan representatives Benny Wenda and Octo Mote (MSG observers with the United Liberation Movement) in foreground. Photo: Supplied

But today in Vila, MSG senior officials met, and tomorrow the group’s foreign ministers are to meet, to discuss the findings of a constitutional committee that has reviewed MSG rules on membership.

It’s understood there won’t be a decision on the full membership application by the United Liberation Movement for West Papua this week.

Fiji prime minister Frank Bainimarama listens to a speech at the plenary session of the Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders summit in Noumea in 2013. — Fiji’s prime minister and foreign minister Frank Bainimarama is not in Vila for this week’s MSG meeting, but a leaders summit to decide on West papuan membership is expected early in the new year. Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades

In a sign of the sensitivity around the issue within the MSG, leaders have this year deferred a number of summits where West Papuan membership was a priority item.

The Sub-Committee on Legal and Institutional Issues was tasked by MSG leaders at their Honiara summit in July to clarify guidelines for observer, associate and full membership in the group.

The MSG’s five full members – Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia’s FLNKS Kanaks Movement – have been divided over whether to grant full membership to West Papuans.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua was granted observer status in the MSG last year but its bid for full membership has been deferred pending clarity on the guidelines.

United Liberation Movement for West Papua representatives outside the Melanesian Spearhead Group secretariat, 20 December 2016. Photo: Supplied

The Liberation Movement’s leaders, including Octo Mote, Benny Wenda, Rex Rumakiek and Jacob Rumbiak are in Port Vila for this week’s meetings.

Representatives of Indonesia, which has associate member status at the MSG, are also present.

December 21, 2016 0

Komite MSG Bertemu Bahas Keanggotaan ULMWP

PORT VILA, SATUHARAPAN.COM – Sebuah komite Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) mengadakan pertemuan di Port Vila, Vanuatu, untuk membahas pedoman mengenai keanggotaan di organisasi regional itu.

Sub komite Hukum dan Isu Institusional merupakan komite yang ditugaskan oleh para pemimpin MSG pada KTT Juli lalu, untuk menjelaskan panduan dan kriteria bagi tingkatan keanggotaan seperti peninjau (observer), associate dan anggota penuh.

MSG adalah organisasi negara-negara di Pasifik Selatan, terdiri dari Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Papua Nugini dan gerakan kemerdekaan Kanak (FLKNS) Kaledonia Baru. Indonesia menjadi anggota associate sedangkan United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) menjadi peninjau.

Perlu diperjelasnya perihal kriteria keanggotaan itu dikarenakan lima anggota penuh selama ini berselisih paham dalam mempertimbangkan permohonan ULMWP untuk menjadi anggota. Indonesia menolak keanggotaan ULMWP karena menganggap rakyat Melanesia di Indonesia diwakili sendiri oleh Indonesia. Sedangkan ULMWP yang selama ini berjuang menentukan hak menentukan nasib sendiri, menganggap mereka merupakan perwakilan dari Melanesia di Indonesia. Papua Nugini dan Fiji mendukung sikap Indonesia sementara Vanuatu, Solomon Islands dan FLKNS mendukung ULMWP.

ULMWP mendapat status peninjau pada KTT MSG tahun lalu namun permohonan untuk menjadi anggota penuh terus tertunda karena belum jelasnya kriteria keanggotaan.

Dalam pertemuan selama dua hari itu, seorang pejabat luar negeri Solomon Islands, William Soaki mengatakan pedoman keanggotaan itu diperlukan agar kriteria tersebut memberikan kontribusi pada tujuan keseluruhan kelompok.

Ia memperkuat pendapat yang baru-baru ini dilontarkan oleh Perdana Menteri Vanuatu, Charlot Salwai, bahwa sejak tahun lalu kriteria keanggotaan MSG telah dikembangkan dengan tidak mencerminkan prinsip-prinsip awal pendirian kelompok itu, yang berkisar di seputar upaya dekolonisasi Melanesia.

Soaki mengatakan pedoman diperlukan untuk memberikan ruang lingkup yang lebih ramping dan jelas bagi para pemimpin untuk digunakan dalam menilai ekspresi kepentingan atas berbagai bentuk keanggotaan dalam MSG.

Direktur Jenderal Sekretariat MSG, Amena Yauvoli, mendorong komite untuk memberikan “resolusi yang bisa diterapkan ke depan”.

Ia mengatakan pembahasan panitia adalah “sangat penting bagi masa depan organisasi” karena isu keanggotaan Papua bisa membuat atau menghancurkan organisasi.

Belum jelas kapan KTT MSG akan dilangsungkan kembali, setelah selama ini sempat tertunda untuk mengambil keputusan atas permohonan keanggotaan ULMWP. Beberapa waktu lalu, sekretariat MSG mengusulkan KTT MSG dilakukan pada 20 Desember ini, namun belum ada tanggapan atas usulan tersebut.

November 26, 2016 0

Parlemen Vanuatu ajukan mosi tidak percaya pada Salwai

Perdana Menteri Charlot Salwai. --RNZI — Perdana Menteri Charlot Salwai. –RNZI

Port Vila, Jubi – Juru bicara parlemen Vanuatu menyatakan bahwa parlemen telah menyatakan mosi tidak percaya terhadap perdana menteri Charlot Salwai. Mosi itu diajukan oleh blok oposisi dan akan dibahas di parlemen, Rabu pekan mendatang.

Koran Daily Post melaporkan bahwa mosi tidak percaya itu telah ditandatangai oleh 31 anggota parlemen. Meski begitu, nama-nama anggota parlemen yang disebutkan telah menandatangani mosi itu hingga kini belum jelas.

Sejak kabar itu beredar, pemerintah telah menghabiskan waktu seharian untuk menyusun maneuver politik untuk menghadapi mosi tidak percaya jika usul itu diterima oleh sebagian besar anggota parlemen.

Pemerintahan di bawah Salwai teus dibayang-bayangi mosi tidak percaya dari parlemen terlebih setelah hampir dari setengah pejabat birokrasi pemerintahan dituntut penjara karena korupsi. Selain pejabat birokrasi, kasus korupsi juga menjerat banyak anggota parlemen dan mantan perdana menteri negeri itu.

Jika mosi tidak percaya itu disetujui parlemen, pemerintah bisa kehilangan legitimasi untuk melanjutkan pemerintahannya. Sejauh ini, belum ada tanggapan dari pihak pemerintah atas usul yang akan segera dibahas parlemen itu. (*)

November 24, 2016 0

Custom Land Act Under the Gun

Dailypost.vu, By Dan McGarry

Lands Minister Ralph Regenvanu confirmed earlier this week that he has written to Speaker, Esmon Sae, asking him to rule the private member’s bill to repeal the Custom Land Management Act out of order.

In a letter dated 11 October 2016, Mr Regenvanu reminded the Speaker that recent changes to the Constitution require that the Malvatumauri be consulted prior to any changes to land law being enacted in Parliament.

The bill to repeal the Custom Land Management Act was lodged by Opposition Leader Ishmael Kalsakau.

The explanatory note at the head of the Bill states that “the Land Management Act No. 33 of 2013 fails to enhance the application of this constitutional rule to enable the customary institutions throughout the Republic of Vanuatu to dispose of disputes over land owned in accordance with the customary law of each particular place”.

Mr Kalsakau was not available for comment due to personal travel overseas, but Opposition spokesman John Shing admitted that “I met with the Land management section of Malvatumauri and gave them a copy of the bill and explained what we intended to do.

“They advised that the Vanuatu council of chiefs would only be meeting in January or February of 2017.”

He argued that a consultation is not required because strictly speaking, the requirement arises only in the case of an amendment.

“We are not making an amendment as we intend to repeal the Act,” he wrote in a letter to the Daily Post.

He concluded: “The only slight amendments would be to the Land leases Act and these amendments are only adjusted so as cancel any reference to the Custom Land Management Act which we intend to repeal.”

Mr Regenvanu’s letter to the Speaker makes specific reference to Article 30 (2) of the Constitution, which states, “The [Malvatumauri] Council must be consulted on any question, particularly any question relating to land, tradition and custom, in connection with any bill before Parliament.”

The Daily Post contacted the Speaker’s office, and was told that the determination whether the bill was in order or not is a matter for parliamentarians to decide. It was suggested that Parliament could decide to forward the bill to a committee, which could conduct any required consultation.

The Clerk of Parliament said it was his duty to process all bills submitted to him, but added that a finalised bill had yet to be submitted by the Opposition.

The Custom Land Management Act has the subject of controversy since it was first passed in 2013. Real estate developers, investors, chiefs and academics have all complained at various times that the processes outlined in the Act are ungainly and impracticable. The Opposition argues that no single legislative solution can comprise the widely diverse kastom practices concerning land in Vanuatu.

November 19, 2016 0

KTT MSG Dijadwalkan Bahas Keanggotaan ULMWP 20 Desember

Menteri Luar Negeri RI, Retno Marsudi dan Menteri Luar Negeri Papua Nugini, Rimbink Pato, sedang berbincang-bincang. Papua Nugini diketahui sebagai salah satu negara yang mendukung sikap Indonesia di MSG (Foto: radionz.co.nz)

PORT VILA, SATUHARAPAN.COM – Direktur Jenderal sekretariat Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), Amena Yauvoli, mengatakan pihaknya telah mengusulkan tanggal pertemuan para pemimpin MSG yang sudah beberapa kali tertunda.

Yauvoli mengatakan sekretariat MSG mengusulkan pertemuan dilangsungkan pada 20 Desember di Port Vila, Vanuatu.

Sekretariat MSG masih menunggu konsensus dari para anggota MSG atas usulan tersebut.

Lima anggota MSG adalah Papua Nugini, Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands dan FLKNS Kaledonia Baru.

Pertemuan tersebut telah ditunda untuk kedua kalinya pada awal Oktober lalu dan sejak itu gagal menyepakati pertemuan selanjutnya.

Dalam pertemuan yang dijadwalkan 20 Desember itu, MSG akan membahas permohonan keanggotaan penuh United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) yang selama ini ditentang oleh Indonesia. ULMWP saat ini berstatus sebagai peninjau, sedangkan Indonesia berstatus sebagai associate member.

Keanggotaan ULMWP merupakan masalah sensitif, terutama karena penolakan dari Indonesia yang menganggapnya sebagai gerakan separatis.

Isu keanggotaan ULMWP telah menjadi agenda prioritas MSG beberapa tahun terakhir yang sulit mendapat konsensus dari anggota.

Juli lalu, pertemuan para pemimpin MSG diadakan di Honiara, Solomon Islands, setelah beberapa kali perubahan tempat dan tanggal.

Di Honiara, para pemimpin menangguhkan keputusan terhadap permohonan keanggotaan penuh ULMWP dengan alasan perlunya dirumuskan kriteria keanggotaan.

Perdana Menteri Vanuatu, Charlot Salwai, kemudian menjelaskan bahwa sejak tahun lalu kriteria keanggotaan MSG telah dikembangkan dengan tidak mencerminkan prinsip-prinsip pendiri kelompok.

Vanuatu, Kepulauan Solomon dan FLNKS diketahui merupakan anggota MSG yang mendukung ULMWP menjadi anggota penuh. Sedangkan Papua Nugini dan Fiji condong mendukung pendirian Indonesia.

Di tengah frustrasi akan sulitnya menghadirkan seluruh anggota, muncul laporan yang mengatakan bahwa MSG bisa membuat keputusan tentang keanggotaan Papua jika setidaknya tiga dari lima anggota penuh hadir.

Yauvoli mengatakan selain membahas keanggotaan ULMWP, pemimpin MSG perlu untuk bertemu Desember nanti untuk menyetui anggaran sekretariat MSG untuk tahun 2017.

Sekretariat MSG pada tahun-tahun belakangan menghadapi masalah anggaran karena beberapa angggota penuh tidak membayar secara penuh iuran yang menjadi komitmennya. (radionz.co.nz)

November 19, 2016 0

Miss Vanuatu Contestants Dan McGarry

THE MISS VANUATU COMPETITION IS ON! Daily Post will be profiling contestants for Miss Vanuatu weekly until the crowning in November. Miss Vanuatu is showcasing a range of talents from young and vibrant women determined who will soon be crowned Miss Vanuatu 2016.

Name: Kaylyndella Mala

Age: 18

Island of Origin: Ambae

Occupation: Student at Sorovanga JSS

How did you enter the Miss Vanuatu competition?

I have a friend who is also in the competition who asked if wan interested to join. I then approached Madame Michelle if I can join in the pageant to which she agreed and here I am, competing for Miss Vanuatu 2016.

What do you think Miss Vanuatu is all about?

Miss Vanuatu is a competition where our beauty is put into good use and to showcase the diverse custom and culture from which we are from.

If you were to win Miss Vanuatu 2016, what are your future goals?

If I win the Miss Vanuatu 2016, I will put my effort into helping youth to realise their potential in their communities and make use of their talents to improve their lives as well as for the community which they belong to. I want to be the inspiration for women and girls in Vanuatu that anyone can be in the competition and to dream big.

NAME: Delinson Tari

AGE: 20

ISLAND OF ORIGIN: Ambae

OCCUPATION: Student at USP

How did you enter Miss Vanuatu 2016 competition?

I heard from a friend who is also in the competition and wanted to join. I met up with the president of the competition who confirmed my participation.

What do you think Miss Vanuatu is all about?

It is a competition where contestants show their beauty. It is a platform where women and girls can show their confidence especially in a society usually dominated by men.

If you were to win Miss Vanuatu 2016, what are your future goals?

As I am still a student (a science student), health is the very important aspect of our life, so i believe if I win and become the next Miss Vanuatu, I will improve our health facilities and resources by advocating for help to aid these improvements.

NAME: Melissa Fare

AGE: 20

ISLAND OF ORIGIN: Ambrym

OCCUPATION: Student at USP/ Part-time external Aid at PVIS

How did you enter Miss Vanuatu 2016 competition?

I was asked by the Miss Vanuatu competition committee to part of the show as I have previously took part in some of the beauty pageant in Port Vila

What do you think Miss Vanuatu is all about?

This competition is a full package- brains and beauty, courage and confidence in critical times. You’re not just showing how beautiful you are but how smart and confident you to handle, like I said, critical times and good times.

If you were to win Miss Vanuatu 2016, what are your future goals?

My long term goal is to become a diplomat representing my country. I thought being in the competition, the positives and the negatives but then I looked at it as an opportunity where I can use my talents and learn new things that will build me into a better person and best represent my country, Vanuatu whether in the region or internationally if there is need. I will advocate for women and girls, for children and especially people with special needs in our community and make their voices heard.

fern@dailypost.vu

November 18, 2016 0

Port Vila may host MSG Leaders Summit on December 20

Dailypost.vu – Director General (DG) of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat, Amena Yauvoli says the MSG Leaders Summit, which has been postponed from October, is scheduled for December 2016.

Speaking to Vanuatu Nightly News’ Kizzy Kalsakau recently before leaving for Fiji, MSG DG Yauvoli confirmed that if all MSG Leaders consent, the Leaders Summit will take place on December 20.

“At the moment, we are working with member countries to agree on the date which the chairman prescribed-which is the 20th of December,” he explained. “We are still waiting for confirmation from member countries for us to be able to confirm.”

When questioned on the possibility of the meeting postponed to 2017 in the absence of a consensus on the date, the DG says it depends on the MSG Leaders.

“That is a possibility, but as we all know the organisation is a member-driven organization where decisions are made by leaders and members,” he said. “The Secretariat does not make any decision whatsoever, we only facilitate, provide and recommend to the Leaders.

“If the majority of the Leaders vouch for the meeting to held on December 20, then it will be done.”

Commenting on the agenda, DG Yauvoli said, “One of the outstanding agenda is membership issues which will be discussed again. This was first discussed during the Special Leaders’ Summit in Honiara in July.

“In addition, an important agenda for me as the new DG is the Work Program and Budget for 2017, which we are currently working on and our governing body has to approve before we enter the New Year.”

Previously, the MSG Leaders Summit was scheduled to be hosted in Port Vila from October 3-4, 2016.

At that time the Vanuatu West Papua Association hosted the Wantok Summit, which brought together Free West Papua Civil Society Organisation support groups within Melanesia, including the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), hosted in Port Vila in parallel with the MSG Leaders Summit.

One of the main issues in the Wantok Summit then was to convince the MSG Leaders, to endorse the admission of ULMWP as a full member of MSG.

But this did not eventuate because the Leaders’ Summit was postponed without any explanation from the MSG Secretariat.

Earlier this year, the MSG Leaders Summit was scheduled for May 3-5, 2016 but then deferred due to the availability and commitments of the Leaders.

This was a blow to the Vanuatu Free West Papua Association, who had organized a public march to coincide with the MSG Leaders’ Summit.

Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Lengkone, recently presented a cheque of Vt15 million to DG Yauvoli, part of the overall Vt28 million commitment pledged by each MSG Leader towards the Vt115 million MSG Rescue Package that was agreed during the MSG Leaders Meeting in 2015.

Fiji and Solomons have fully made their contributions of Vt28 million and DG Yauvoli is hopeful that PNG can make its contribution before the end of 2016.

The DG said the monies are intended for obligatory payments, which have been outstanding for several years, for instance severance entitlements for four officers that have left the organisation and to whom the MSG Secretariat still owe Vt20 million.

Other payments include Vanuatu National Provident Fund (VNPF) entitlements, which have to be cleared before the end of the year.

When questioned on the contribution of the Front de Liberation Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS), the DG replied that the Leaders agreed for the amount to be apportioned from the four member countries, FLNKS is an organisation even though it is a member of MSG.

“It does not take away their participatory rights in terms of decision making in the organisation,” he explained.

jane@dailypost.vu

November 17, 2016 0

Bislama a language from early Vanuatu-China trade relations: Natuman

Daily Post – By Jonas Cullwick Nov 15, 2016

Vanuatu’s national language, Bislama, is derived from Beche-de-Mer or sea cucumber, the trade of which commodity in the late 1800s signaled the start of trade relations between Vanuatu and China

, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism and Trade Joe Natuman told a recent Seminar on Cooperation and Exchange between China (Guangdong) and Vanuatu.

He was speaking at the seminar hosted by the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in Guangzhou two days after the DPM and his delegation of 13 MPs attended the opening of the Guangdong 21st Century Marine Silk Road International Expo in Dongguan, Guangdong Province’s second largest city. The same city is popular for hosting a different kind of Silkroad: Silkroad MMORPG annual tournaments (hosted through a Silkroad Private server), wherein the event sees thousands of ardent gamers.

“Vanuatu and China have had a long fruitful relation dating back a number of years”, he said adding: “It is important that we are holding this forum at the time when you are holding the International Expo on the Maritime Silk Road initiative that will aim to increase trade relations between our two countries.”

“The Chinese people and the people of Vanuatu have had a long relationship with each other,” Natuman added saying: “At the time when the Europeans were coming to the Pacific to trade in the late 1800s, the Chinese were also involved in the trade in the Pacific.”

“In fact when the British imported Chinese tea, the Chinese would not accept the British Pound or British money. So, the British had to look for something to trade with for the tea, and they looked for sandalwood and Vanuatu had lots of sandalwood.

“In fact one of our Members of Parliament in this delegation (UMP MP Tomker Netvunei) comes from Erromango and his island has lots of sandalwood. The British got the sandalwood from Vanuatu, came to China, exchanged the sandalwood and took the tea to England. That was our first trade contact,” the Deputy Prime Minister, a history/politics graduate told the seminar.

“Later on we had lots of Chinese investors and traders in the marine sector. They came to trade in beche-de-mer or sea cucumber. In Vanuatu we don’t eat sea cucumber but in China I believe you like sea cucumber and the Chinese came to our islands because we have lots of sea cucumber.

“That’s how we started trading. And in fact our national language, the lingua franca of Vanuatu, which in Papua New Guinea is called Tok Pisin – a broken English, in the Solomon Islands is called Pidgin English, and in Vanuatu the name was changed. It’s called Bishlamer or Bislama,” Natuman continued.

“The language is derived from beche-de-mer trading. The local people could not speak Chinese, they could not speak English and they could not speak the many ni-Vanuatu languages, so they came up with this language to communicate, they call Bishlamer or Bislama. Today it is our national language.”

“That is the history of our first trading experiences that have linked Vanuatu and China to this day.

“In the early 1900s we were colonized by two colonial powers – Britain and France, and Britain because of their interests in China through Hong Kong, when they colonized us, they brought Chinese from Hong Kong and South China to work in housekeeping, in the kitchen to cook their food and other such tasks.

“In Vanuatu we call them as people from Canton or Cantonese.

“The British allowed them to set up their own businesses and they set up a China town part of Port Vila which remains to this day. Many generations of these Chinese have become very successful and are doing businesses in Vanuatu today and they invest overseas.”

In 1982, after our independence, Vanuatu and China established diplomatic ties and Vanuatu is keen to look at ways to tap into China’s latest international trade initiative, the Maritime Silk Road.

Jonas Cullwick, a former General Manager of VBTC is now a Senior Journalist with the Daily Post. Contact: jonas@dailypost.vu. Cell # 678 5460922

November 13, 2016 0