Between the lines
I REFER to Josef Borrell Fontelles’ opinion piece entitled, ‘The EU and the Indo-Pacific’ that is subtitled, ‘Partners for a stable and prosperous world’. Mr Fontelles is the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and a Vice President of European Commission.
The self-congratulatory and somewhat bland global statement mentions EU’s economic and strategic links with the Indo-Pacific including partnership cooperation with several countries. Mention is made of the ‘Middle East Conflict’ without word on Gaza, and the Ukraine war with finger pointing at the Russians.
Mention is also made of the unstable situation in the South China Sea with finger pointing at China.
While the overtures of friendship and partnership as well as support for climate resilience – ‘Blue Green Alliancewould be welcomed by most Pacific observers, and the recognition of a ‘Pacific Day’ by the European parliament applauded, there are several issues that preoccupy Pacific peoples are not mentioned.
The first of these is the lumping together of Pacific
Small Island Developing
States (PSIDS) with Asia in the Indo-Pacific when the two regions are so different with very diverse economic, political, and strategic challenges. The term, ‘Indo-Pacific’ was coined by United States security officials to counter growing Chinese influence in Asia and the Pacific.
It ignores all Latin America. Second, while Fontelles’ opinion is directed at peaceful co-operation, the issue of West Papua where there is resistance to Indonesian occupation and gross human rights violations which causes tensions in our region is passed over.
Third, the EU Security Policy chief needs to clarify the meaning of ‘sustainable extraction and processing or critical raw materials, necessary for the green and digital transitions. Does this imply support for the deep-sea mining (DSM) of nodules and mud that contain minerals which can be used for the supposed ‘green transition’? As he may know DSM proposed by Nauru, Cook Islands and Tonga is causing tensions within the Pacific