‘It is time Pacific governments dealt with the difficult issue of managing perceptions of their people and putting things in their right perspectives before another Chinatown bites the dust...’


The arson, looting and violence in Honiara and Nukua’lofa this past year has been unprecedented in the islands region. Never has the Pacific seen sky-high tongues of flames—their thick, dark, billowing smoke choking people to death while decimating entire business districts to cinders and destroying expensive national infrastructure in a matter of a few hours.

While both the Solomon Islands and Tonga had been simmering cauldrons for long and many observers expected violence to erupt at short notice, its intensity was on a scale few would have predicted. In the case of Honiara, even the RAMSI forces stationed there were caught off guard as islanders rampaged through its streets.

Expectedly, the governments of both countries have tried to pinpoint the blame on a few groups of individuals instigated by political rivals for the mayhem.

That obviously is intended to underplay the notion of a popular uprising that analysts and commentators both from within the region and outside have alluded to. In the months to follow, enquiry commissions will come up with their own conclusions—and analysts with their theories.

Clearly, though, it was frustration with the political leadership and its long intransigence that undoubtedly fuelled public anger. The election in Honiara and the King’s death in Tonga were the tipping points that escalated tensions.

Leaving political analysis aside and taking a closer look at the symptomatic side of the violence, one cannot but help notice some glaringly intriguing parallels between the incidents in the Solomons and Tonga.

In the case of the former, looters and arsonists targetted the Chinese quarter of Honiara’s central business district, Chinatown. Just a few days after the violence erupted, many ethnic Chinese were left bereft of their homes, property and businesses. Some left the Solomons in planes chartered by their home country.

In Nukua’lofa, too, Chinese-owned shops and establishments bore the brunt of the arson and looting, besides businesses owned by people of other ethnicities. And like in the case of the Solomons, Chinese had to flee the country with China chartering a Boeing 747 flight to Fiji to evacuate those who wished to leave.

Why does it look like the Chinese were targetted in both instances?

We say there may be a couple of possible reasons: over a short period of time, many businesses in both countries have fallen into Chinese hands for one reason or the other, making them ubiquitous in the business districts. So when the business districts were targeted, the Chinese shops seemed to bear the brunt because of their sheer numbers. Which in fact means they were not intentionally singled out.

The other reason could be that there indeed has been a growing resentment in the sudden rise of the Chinese business community; in fact the overall rise in ethnic Chinese in the two countries.  Pacific peoples throughout history have welcomed those of other ethnicities and coexisted peacefully with them for decades, even centuries.

For migration in the past has always been gradual. But in recent decades, Chinese migration to the islands region as a whole has grown by leaps and bounds.

Most of these migrants have quickly set up successful businesses—thanks to their nimble entrepreneurial skills—which may have contributed to a sense of alienation among local people—just as it does in other parts of the world.

Moreover, both the Solomons and the Tongan governments have relied increasingly on Chinese assistance in one form or another—from financial aid to infrastructure building. This is one of the reasons that may have led to more ethnic Chinese taking up residency in these countries, skewing the ethnic composition more rapidly than in the past.

Social activists in the Solomons have also attributed increased corruption to this trend. A report early this year said that migrants could acquire passports in the Solomons in as little as two months if they had pockets deep enough to buy their way through the administration. However unsubstantiated, these allegations combined with perceptibly increased number of Chinese migrants as well as diplomatic staff have contributed to the siege mentality in locals.

In a sense, both governments have failed to take the people into their confidence by explaining to them the positive effects that migrants have on the economy of the countries.

Because of a lack of transparency in dealing with the issue—whether intended or not—these governments have only succeeded in exacerbating the feeling of alienation towards migrants among its own people while being seen cavorting with China at the official level.

Shortly after the Nuku’alofa conflagration, activists in the Cook Islands too voiced fears about the rapid proliferation of businesses set up by migrants in Rarotonga—particularly ethnic Chinese and Indian.

Fears are also being raised of increased Chinese engagement in the region following growing attacks on its citizens living there.

It is time Pacific governments dealt with the difficult issue of managing perceptions of their people and putting things in their right perspectives before another Chinatown bites the dust—and the spectre of a Chinese RAMSI-style operation emerges in the Pacific!