(From Grubsheet’s Facebook page): True story because I was there: Fiji’s Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama, says to the former US Ambassador, Judith Sefkin, at a reception at State House in Suva: “You are not a true friend of Fiji. See that guy over there? (Pointing to the Chinese ambassador). That’s a true friend of Fiji”. Sefkin was a US State Department career diplomat sent to Fiji by the adminstration of Democratic Party President Barack Obama. Now Obama’s former Vice President – President Joe Biden – pointedly snubs Fiji by not inviting Bainimarama to his forthcoming climate summit of 40 nations in Washington despite the fact that Fiji presided over the UN climate negotiations at COP23. It isn’t hard to figure why. As they say in Fijian: Qori (There you are). A major foreign policy embarrassment for Fiji.
He doesn’t know that the his true friend will strip his skin to make a boot and sell it to him if he gets a chance, don’t play with the dragon,
I very DH and embarrassing comment from the PM, but then apart from Australia that’s done nothing outstanding to combate climate change, I note that no vulnerable island state in Oceania has been invited to participate.
Not so, Mona Midnight. The Marshall Islands will be there. Not only a vulnerable island state but a strong campaigner for climate action. Ergo, it has been recognised over Fiji.
Marshall Is part of US realm. No one else from Pacific. US is playing politics. Not helpful when dealing with climate change
Australia has done quite a lot Mona. It just doesn’t go about virtue signalling about it so doesn’t get many likes from woke types on Twitter. Nor does Australia fall for every climate fad that the woke deem necessary to deal with the real or imagined existential threat. These are soon replaced by other fads. It is always easy to prescribe solutions when you are not paying for it with your own money. BTW if you don’t like Australia’s climate position don’t take its aid. That will show them.
“BTW if you don’t like Australia’s climate position don’t take its aid”
Australia has bullied its way through the Pacific for decades with this attitude. Australian aid is not philanthropic. It is given for the sole purpose of maintaining influence, to safeguard its economic and political interests against increasing Chinese competition.
Australia’s embarrassing record on climate is well-known. Your comments on ‘virtue signalling’ and ‘woke types’ are as trite as the hashtags you presumably despise.
Spade x2,
It seems my “trite” observation may have struck a raw nerve. Only in a woke echo-chamber at a gathering in a pricey resort is Australia’s climate record viewed with embarrassment, along with self-flagellation about its race record – super-charged by fellow travelers in tax-payer funded UN organisations top-heavy with members with great human-rights and climate records like …er… Saudi Arabia, Lybia, China, (name any country from Africa). All of that passes without comment from the woke.
Philanthropy?! I stopped expecting that after my undergraduate years. So which country’s is? Badly-run Pacific nations are sadly ripe for the picking. They will be SOBs but we would rather they were our SOBs. At least Australia does not send out its Wolf Warriors demanding supplication.
I fear you missed a more deserving target for outrage. Of course, we all know that the real beneficiaries of aid programmes are not poor nations but the social-engineering ersatz academics club who would be unemployable otherwise but who insist on biting the hand that feeds them.
And things continue to go from bad to worse for FlipFlop Party from sweeping their shady dealings under the rug expecting the public to forget about it via “FICAC delays” and the ringleader himself who just might be on his death bed in critical condition leaving the sheeple and Frankie to look very…..ordinary like they really don’t have a clue on how to properly run a government. At least the opposition is exposing them for not being in the know about critical issues in parliament.
Frankie himself doesn’t even know about China’s “double-edged sword” policies that have a lot of red taping underneath in terms of a neoliberal approach. Oh how sadly pathetic that FFP snubbed Australia and New Zealand that they are now crawling back to them in order to entice them to join a “Bula Bubble” that will probably never happen unless a new government takes over.
Oh how the party fails miserably at foreign policy, I’m sure the opposition is willing to work with them but FFP’s stubbornness to do so won’t last forever.
Fiji needs a visionary leader who has the grey matter upstairs. Its a pity Fiji has been led by a coup-maker who not only overthrew a democratically elected government but also abrogated a constitution that was passed through an elected Fijian Parliament. Lets hope the people of Fiji will give us a better choice in the next election.
God bless our young democracy.
I’m just hoping that there’s no “funny business” happening behind the scenes during the election if you know what I mean.
It just shows FRANK’S climate crusade is all bark and no bite. Shows he absolutely has no influence on this subject matter and the rest of the World does not take him seriously.
Let’s face it guys, the COPE 23 Presidency was a publicity stunt just to prop up his image , he was there a week or two in advance of COPE 23 meeting when rest World leaders showed up a for a few days as most if not all the work for other world leaders was carried out by senior staff and diplomats , that’s is when I realized that this guy is a free loader just traveling every month on tax payer funded overseas trips.
Now you see why Fiji is in deep economic trouble as he has not provided the leadership ( hunker down and do the tough work) as he was too busy traveling overseas every other month on useless conferences.
Mark my words as soon as travel opens up from COVID this guy will be out and will travel and travel to make up for past years stay at home
Hope that the offensive nature can change and OUR FIJI can be invited in future.
Vinaka Grubsheet team.
Horses for causes. I will suggest Fiji have a quick call with Marshall Islands rep before the meet and talk common issues that can be raised.
Graham, Could we the common citizenary ask you just one honest question which requires an HONEST answer.
Did you ever ,whilst in the company of the prime minister and the attorney general or army boys and girls ever hear discussions on how to win elections at all costs, failing which jail could loom in the horizon, by anyone in the echelons of power. This could also include the freeloading sidekicks like , nazhat, Tony gates, Christopher pryde, nur bano et al,?
Only an honest answer please. I’ve heard with mine own ears, the supervisor of elections say “we’re going to jail if we lose the elections,” some 6 months prior to the 2018 elections. This was at the barber shop called supercuts at the boulevard building when the owner Faizal cutting Saneem’s hair asked him what would happen if FIJI FIRST lost the elections.
Hand on heart, Frustrated tax payer, I was never party to nor aware of the kind of conversation to which you refer.
That is the God-honest truth. I don’t know the context in which the quote you ascribe to the Supervisor of Elections was made. But I rather suspect he was joking.
SriLankan Airlines has launched a $1 billion lawsuit against European planemaker Airbus, citing damages, loss of reputation, and reimbursement costs, as the manufacturer continues to face fallout from its ongoing bribery scandal.
The lawsuit pertains to the purchase of 10 aircraft – six A330s and four A350s – as well as the lease of four additional A350s.
It comes after the UK Crown Court found Airbus guilty of engaging in bribery tactics amid aircraft deals, with the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) reporting bribery offences against Airbus in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Indonesia and Ghana.
According to the lawsuit filed by SriLankan, between 1 July 2011 and 1 June 2015, Airbus failed to prevent persons associated with its company from bribing others concerned with the purchase of aircraft by SriLankan Airlines from Airbus.
The suit alleges that $16.8 million was pledged to an intermediary company in order to secure the order for 10 aircraft and the lease of four aircraft with the airline. Ultimately, only $2 million of this pledge was paid.
The USA has seen straight through Bainimarama as a nincompoop and a high school drop-out who only reads what his propagandists at QORVIS have put before him.
He is now floundering around at his home in an inebriated state surrounded by empty wine casks and totally lost now that the puppetmaster is not available to teach him to correctly pronounce complex six syllable words like ‘multicuturalism’ and what it means etc.
All is not lost though. He will be invited to a similar climate summit that China will organize in competition to the US one.
The “snub” of Fiji, is a manifestation of the old Potomac two-step.
As the adage goes in international diplomacy, ‘there’s no permanent friends, just permanent interests ‘.
The permanent interests of the Biden Administration is basically
Hawkish.
The Geriatric President is already broken his pre-election promises and continued the Forever wars.
The Global South are definitely warming up to China and their Belt and Road Initiative because they know of the wake of destruction brought by the disastrous U.S foreign policy, in comparison to China’s track record.