South Pacific security

The nonsense being hawked recently about Vanuatu by our China haters doesn’t surprise me (Hamish McDonald, “Sand castle”, April 14–20). How many of them have seen for themselves what Vanuatu and China are really like now – or are they armchair generals fighting the last war and not the next? Where were they when a serious earthquake occurred recently in Papua New Guinea and we virtually ignored it? We didn’t hear much about Australian aid then. Must we wait until somebody sets up military bases in PNG before we show any enthusiasm?

– Mick Bennett, Rossmore, NSW