This week, the President of Nauru, David Adeang, paid his first visit to China since the resumption of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged handshakes with President Adeang and welcomed the Pacific island nation to join the Belt and Road Initiative.
Professor Liang Jiarun at the Research Center for Pacific Island Countries, Liaocheng University, told GDToday in an exclusive interview that a closer China-Nauru relation follows the tide of the times. This visit has injected strong momentum into the bilateral relations between China and Nauru, with a solid political foundation built for the two sides.
President Adeang sees Guangdong Province as a key cooperation partner
In January, Nauru's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Lionel Aingimea, visited Guangdong Province. "My visit to China solidified my heart in China", said the minister. And he was very impressed by what he had seen in Guangdong. He shared that many overseas Chinese in Nauru came from Guangdong or Fujian Province. Many of them were from Taishan, Guangdong, and ran successful businesses in his country.
Nauruan President Adeang also chose Guangzhou as the last stop of his visit in China and visited Nanfang Hospital in Guangzhou, with the aim of bringing medical cooperation projects to the Nauruan people. "Just like other Pacific island countries, Nauru is working really hard to build up its medical system. Many local people are troubled by health problems like obesity or high blood pressure," explained Liang.
According to what Dr. Sun Jian, the president of Nanfang HoNanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University, shared in an interview with GDToday, the prospect of medical cooperation with Nauru was promising since Guangdong and China at large had rich experiences in offering medical assistance to Pacific island countries.
These strong signals meant that Nauru regarded Guangdong Province as its key cooperation partner, according to Liang. "Guangdong Province pioneers in cooperating with Pacific island countries. There's a lot of room for cooperation in fisheries, solar energy, and aquaculture."
Why did Nauru sever "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan?
In January, Nauru formally restored diplomatic relations with China and sever “diplomatic relationships” with Taiwan earlier in the same month. Nauruan President Adeang also extended Chinese New Year greetings to the Chinese people at the time.
Professor Liang stressed that Nauru has learned an important lesson from other Pacific island countries. Before Nauru, Solomon Islands and the Republic of Kiribati also cut “diplomatic ties” with Taiwan and joined the Belt and Road Initiative with China. Their economies have seen rapid growth ever since.
"In the past, Nauru collected lots of wealth by exporting phosphate. After years of exploitation, the resource was exhausted, and Nauru had to face an economic slowdown. There are also problems like poverty and food insecurity," Professor Liang added when talking about how Nauru felt the needs to seek growth opportunities in its cooperation with China. He envisioned more Pacific Island Countries, including the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, and Palau, might want to partner up with China after Nauru.
China and Nauru show high complementarity in terms of economy
One of the biggest highlights during Nauruan President Adeang's visit was the signing of bilateral cooperation documents under the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, and regarding economic development, and agriculture.
Based on these signed documents, Professor Liang believed that China and Nauru showed high complementarity in terms of their economy. Home to rich mineral, marine, and fishery resources, Nauru looked to cooperate with China in trade, tourism, agriculture, infrastructure, and more.
According to Nauruan President in an interview with GDToday, a team of Chinese experts is currently in Nauru “trying to understand the economy and our challenges”. He believed that Nauru will have a rapid development in a short period with the help of China.
Reporter | Jersey Kwok, Lydia
Poster | Lulu
Editor | Steven, Nan, Will, James,
