China and the Pacific: The View from Oceania is based on a conference held at the National University of Samoa in Apia from 25 to 27 February 2015. China's new role as an important diplomatic and economic partner of the island countries of the Pacific has attracted increasing attention, and some controversy, in recent years. The unique priority of this conference in Samoa was to give full opportunity for both Pacific voices to be heard on the subject and for productive engagement and discussion between Pacific island participants and those from China. Samoa's Prime Minister, China's Ambassador to Samoa, and leading politicians and academics from all around the Pacific islands region made contributions which are included in this book. Topics covered include: Changing Geopolitics: Is China replacing traditional partners? Regional Security: How has China changed regional security? Chinese in the Pacific: What is the role of Chinese communities in the region? Development Cooperation: New opportunities and also a new aid environment? Trade and Investment: What opportunities - and what challenges - have come with China's increasing economic engagement? The conference was jointly sponsored by the National University of Samoa, the New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre at Victoria University of Wellington, and Sun Yat-sen Univesity of Guangzhou.
Author Biography
Michael Powles has headed New Zealand diplomatic posts in the Pacific (Fiji) and Asia (Indonesia and China) and more recently he was Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and then Ambassador to the United Nations. He was then appointed a Human Rights Commissioner. In 2002 he became Founding Chairman of the Pacific Cooperation Foundation. He has written and lectured on Pacific and Asian affairs and on international legal and human rights issues.
