Ambassador of Samoa to China: BRI cooperation with China is fruitful. Tim Tufuga comments.

Samoan Chinese closer relations continues to flourish including the Chinese Belt and Road initiative with the construction of the Samoan Police Academy, as well as, other initiatives within the Agricultural sectors moving forward. 

Belt and Road Initiative

The Sino-Samoa relationship continues to strengthen every year more particularly since Samoa has no military branch of Government which means that Samoa has no military alliances with any major military Groups within the Western Military powers. Unlike Tonga, Fiji, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea who have all signed military pact alliances with the United States and Australia, Samoa, as a non military Pacific Island State has no military ties with any Nation. Therefore, Samoa is considered as a non aligned Pacific Island Nation open to China and even to Russian geostrategic and political relations without any military obligations and loyalties to any Western Nations, particularly to AUKUS and or the Five Eyes member Nations. 

Colonial History

Whilst Samoa continues to remain a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, and maintaining close relations with Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America primarily due to their Samoan people living and working in these major Western Countries, the Samoan Anglo American cultural infliuences can not be ignored. The over a century long Anglo American cultural interactions between the Samoans and Anglo American culture is very entrenched within the Samoan culture from the Anglo Saxon Protestant Churches, to the Marist Catholic French influence in the Pacific, to the sporting ties with the English sports of Cricket and Rugby influencing the very fabric of Samoan culture for well over a century. 

German Samoa

The Chinese influence has been signigicant for Samoan culture through the German Colonial history of Samoa for over a century as well. The Chinese were very important for the socioeconomic cultural influences of Samoan everyday staple with Chinese Cooking, with Keke Saiga and Sapa Sui, derived from the Chinese who introduced their Food variety to the Samoans during the German Colonial administration of Samoa. Miscegenation would enrich the Samoan society with Chinese Samoan families whose cultural influence was considered harmonious and very functional in the commmercial enterprises of a fledgling Samoan modern German driven mercantalist economy. Needless to say, the Sino Samoan relations has been very well entrenched within a German Colonial Samoan past that the modern day Sino Samoan relations was not considered a Cultural shock for the Samoans compared to many other Pacific Island Nations. 

BRICS

During the waning of the British Empire, and the ineluctable demise of the Commonwealth of Nations as a Global Organisation, there are nascent global and regional groupings which are forming to reflect the paradigm power shift in global geostrategic spheres of influence. The nascent rise of the BRICS member Nations is a case in point. The Russo-Sino Hegemonic influence within the BRICS Group is forging new economic and geostrategic as well as military ties which would pivot many non aligned Nations to the BRICS group. As many Pacific Island Economies are economically austere except for the resource rich Western Pacific Melanesian Spearhead Group which have already established their respective bilateral Belt and Road Initiative relationship with China, the Polynesian Island States are very austere and very fragile in terms of investment returns for China. Suffice it to say, that the Sino Samoa relations will extend to the Chinese a crucial sphere of influence into the Central Pacific region beyond the third Island Chain of GeoStrategic containment for the Chinese Blue Water Naval sphere of influence much to the chagrine of both Australia and the United States, with their AUKUS Sphere of influence within Oceania. 

In the recent RIMPAC 2024 Naval exercises the Pacific Island Nations would include Tonga, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, as well as Australia and New Zealand, with Samoa visibly absent from the military Clique. In this context, the Samoans would be considered as being represented by either Tonga, Australia and or New Zealand during these military exercises. Again, undermining the Soveriegn Status of an Independant Island Nation devoid of a Military presence at such an important Global event. Clearly, the British and therefore the New Zealand Colonial Powers had considered it unnecessary for Samoa to have a military Branch of Government with having the Samoan Police Service providing the necessary National Security services for the Nation. 

The Sino Samoa relations has been an important relationship in establishing a more localised focused Policing through the Samoan Police Academy, veering away from the New Zealand Police Standards which has been the Peeler Standard of Samoan Policing for over a century. Notwithstanding the facr that the rudimentary Samoan Police Force was initially formed by the German Administration prior to the New Zealand First Expeditionary Force's absupr take over of the Samoan Policing during the August 29th 1914 invasion of Samoa at the outbreak of the Great War. 

As a descendant of the initial Samoan Police Officers who were part of the initial Samoan Police Force from Apia Village, the long history of the long arm of the law, has been a part of my family heritage since before the arrival of the British Peelers as part of the New Zealand Police Service Samoan Branch from 1914 till the Independence of Samoa in 1962. The legacy of the British Peeler policing has become very entrenched within the Samoan Police culture today. This has also been augmented by the influences of the Australian Federal Police in recent years with additional resources and training that have augmented the qualitarive improvement of the Samoan Police services performance and practises today, 

Moving forward, however, the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative in the ever increasing global rapport with Samoa and other BRI partners has been a significant soft power diplomacy by the Chinese that is appreciated by the Samoans. With the growing military strength of the Chinese as a pacing rival to the Americans, the Samoans are aware of the value of the geopolitical positioning of Samoa in the central Pacific in terms of the Chinese Blue Water outreach for much needed replenishment and Chinese friendly partners in the Pacific, Moreover, as the line in the sand continues to pit Nations on the two major camps, knowing that most Samoan families living abroad are living in Western Nations particularly in Sinophobic Countries like Australia and America, the Samoans will be careful not to place their families in harms way in either Australia, New Zealand or America, with their China friendly relations. The Taiwan Freedom of Natigation disputes is a sensitive issue that all regional Nations are very well aware of. The close relations of China to Russia also creates another sensitive issue for the region since Russia is currently engaged in a European War in Ukraine and within Russia directly. 

Again, the Samoans must maintain this delegate balance of international diplomacy so as to reconcile their own vested interests in a highly volatile environment. Samoans are able to become amenable to both Australia, New Zealand and America as well as with China even during these testing times. 

Tim Tufuga.

Source: 

1. CGTN, youtube.com, https://youtu.be/mrqCP9ZD7cM?si=tILSquQxmgL__zl2 

2. His Excellency, Luamanuvae Albert Mariner,  Samoan Government,