Last week, the UK announced it was establishing diplomatic representation in nine countries: Lesotho, Swaziland, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. From an Oceanian perspective, this might be a game changer.
There
The establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) reached another milestone on Monday when 50 of the 57 founding members signed the AIIB's Articles of Agreement. Seven countries are still sorting out domestic requirements before signing.
China's Finance Minister Jiwei Lou and
With the signing of the AIIB's Articles of Agreement in Beijing yesterday, how is the Bank shaping up? Here are some key things that struck me reading the Agreement:
Membership
The Bank's members are split into two groups: regional and non-regional. Regional members include those countries
While Beijing's Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has won overwhelming support (to the surprise of many, including China itself), another bank headquartered in China seems to be flying under the world's radar.
Few people have heard of the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB). This was the
The recent rush by Western countries to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) before the 30 March deadline set by China was widely, and rightly, seen as a policy failure for the US. Earlier, the US had openly opposed the bank.
The US has also resisted reform of the Bretton Woods
By Jenny Hayward-Jones, Director of the Lowy Institute's Melanesia Program, and Phillipa Brant, Research Associate.
The Pacific Islands region has been spared any serious impact from cuts to the Australian aid program revealed in budget documents released yesterday.
Australia's bilateral program
In recent years, strategic rivalry between India and China has been evident across the Indo-Pacific, with Beijing progressively growing its diplomatic, economic and military influence on India's land and maritime periphery, and India belatedly pushing back to preserve its once privileged position in
Jenny Hayward-Jones is Director of the Lowy Institute's Melanesia Program and Philippa Brant is a Research Associate at the Lowy Institute.
Pacific Island leaders have had the rare opportunity to meet the international leader of the moment, Narendra Modi, and the president of the world's
Chinese president Xi Jinping's impending visit to Fiji, where he will meet with all of the eight Pacific leaders whose nations diplomatically recognise China, means newspapers will be filled with ruminations on China's strategic influence in the South Pacific and what this means for Australia and
The debate about whether Australia should join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has gone beyond the realm of economic development and investment to hit at the core of Australia's apparent security dilemma.
The initial concern revolved around the governance arrangements and whether
The Chinese Government is frequently criticised for not being transparent about its aid program. As I mentioned in my quick summary yesterday, there's not a lot of specific data in the Chinese aid white paper. But we can make a few comparisons — on geographical spread, type of aid, and income
Today, the Chinese Government released its much-awaited second White Paper on Foreign Aid. It's been in the pipeline for a while, as I've noted a number of times, and follows the first white paper published in April 2011.
So what does it say?
First, it is an overview of China's foreign
China's foreign aid program is now the sixth largest in the world. Only the UK, US, Germany, France and Japan provided more last year.
This is according to a new paper from the JICA Research Institute estimating China's foreign aid program from 2001 to 2013. Their calculations put China's
10 things to know about EU aid. Look out for number 8: five areas where development policy goes beyond aid. (h/t ODI.)
'Leaders fiddle while the world burns'. A candid interview with former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Mapping development finance in Africa: the African Development Bank and
By Jenny Hayward-Jones, Director of the Lowy Institute's Melanesia Program, and Philippa Brant, a Lowy Institute research associate.
The Abbott Government last night brought down the first annual aid budget since the integration of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and AusAID
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has wrapped up his eight day visit to Africa, his first visit as premier and his first foreign visit this year. Commentators (and African leaders) expect to see big announcements whenever a Chinese leader is in town.
So what has this trip revealed? Here are some of the
Last year, AidData and the Center for Global Development launched a massive online database of China's development financing in Africa. At the time, many concerns were raised about its methodology and the headline figure reported extensively in the media.
As I explained at the time, 'understanding
China's humanitarian aid has recently been subject to much criticism – both international and domestically. But the signs are positive for some reforms.
Last week I was in Beijing for a workshop on humanitarian aid (or 'foreign disaster assistance', as the Chinese prefer to call it) hosted by the
Reviving a mid-December tradition established by former foreign minister Alexander Downer, Julie Bishop has just completed a three-day whirlwind trip to Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Nauru. As a backbencher, Bishop was part of Downer's delegation in December 2002*, and just as Downer did, Bishop
In this comment piece for the Guardian's global development blog Dr Philippa Brant explores Australia's ongoing dominance in the South Pacific and the opportunities for cooperation with China
The Lowy Institute’s first Fiji Poll was a wide-ranging survey of public opinion in Fiji about the performance of Fiji’s military-led government and Fiji’s relations with the world. Questions focused on the implementation of government promises, the role of Fiji’s military, and democracy.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) commits developed countries to provide climate financing to developing nations, to address climate impacts on food security, water supply, agriculture and public health. But despite recent commitments of 'fast start' climate funding
One of the central pillars of global climate change negotiations is the need to improve access for developing countries to funding and technical resources. But efforts to establish effective mechanisms for climate financing are complex, with governments trying to balance the accountability required
This is the fourth Lowy Institute report on China’s aid program in the Pacific. The series, covering the period 2005-2009, offer the most detailed picture available of China’s activities in the region
This Lowy Institute Analysis by Julienne McKay and Dr Katherine Lepani, exploring the role of demand-responsive mechanisms in health services delivery in Papua New Guinea, accompanies the Policy Brief, 'Revitalising Papua New Guinea's health system
The scale of public health challenges in Papua New Guinea heightens the need to improve management capacity and ensure value for money. Proposed changes to health facility financing and plans to replace drug supply system open up possibilities for wider use of delivery mechanisms previously
Recent impressive economic growth has helped many Papua New Guineans escape poverty. Those lifted from poverty retain strong connections to the economy, its active participants and the government. For those whose connections are weak or absent, economic growth provides no obvious reward. To increase
China runs an opaque aid program in the Pacific that has fuelled suspicions about its motives in the region and that undermines efforts to improve accountability, governance and stability
China refuses to release figures on the size of its aid program. In this new Lowy Institute Analysis, Fergus Hanson takes a region-wide look at the scale of China’s aid program, revealing a dramatic increase in aid pledges since 2005
In this Lowy Institute Policy Brief, Graeme Dobell looks at how the competition for diplomatic recognition between China and Taiwan is destabilising Island states and undermining Australia's interests in the region
Australia has, perhaps, no closer or more complicated a bilateral relationship than that with Papua New Guinea. Australia is deeply entwined with its nearest neighbour and has a major stake in its future