Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka yesterday told parliament that the Pacific nation was likely to collaborate with China on a key port modernization and shipyard project, after discussing it in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
Fiji previously sought Australia’s involvement to build a modern shipbuilding facility on Fiji’s Lautoka island, officials and a consultant to Rabuka on the project told reporters.
China is the world’s largest shipbuilder, accounting for half of all ships built this year. The pace of expansion of its navy has concerned Australia, which has donated dozens of patrol boats to Pacific nations to boost surveillance of their territorial waters.
Photo: Reuters
Rabuka said that his government was focused on upgrading infrastructure, “particularly the modernization of port facilities and shipyards.”
“I anticipate potential collaboration with China in that endeavor, given China’s globally competitive shipbuilding,” he said.
Rabuka met Xi for the first time on the sidelines of the APEC forum in San Francisco last week.
He said yesterday that Fiji shared China’s vision for global security, and that Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative “aligns with our nation’s development agenda.”
An Australian-based ship design company said Rabuka had earlier sought Australian involvement in the shipyard project.
Sea Transport chairman Stuart Ballantyne said that his company had received a request from Fiji for a fleet of commercial ships it could assemble locally.
Ballantyne said he had advised Rabuka on the broad scope of the shipyard project, which would involve moving an “archaic” shipyard near Suva to the other side of Lautoka and constructing two undercover sheds.
Rabuka wants to revive shipbuilding as a training ground for tradespeople in Fiji, from carpenters to electricians, Ballantyne said, adding that he was unaware of any Chinese involvement.
“If the Chinese have stepped up to the plate — they are the aggressors in the Pacific, the movers and shakers,” he said.
China’s embassy in Fiji did not respond to a request for comment.
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