Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09SUVA53
2009-02-10 05:39:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Suva
Cable title:  

PRELIMINARY PIF SECRETARIAT READOUT ON PT. MORESBY

Tags:  PREL PINR FJ XU XV PP NH CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
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INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0344
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2165
RUEHKN/AMEMBASSY KOLONIA 0300
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RUEHMJ/AMEMBASSY MAJURO 0728
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RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0373
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RHMFISS/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SUVA 000053 

SIPDIS

PASS TO EAP PDAS GLYN DAVIES AND EAP/ANP
USPACOM FOR LTC JENNIFER HUGHES

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2019
TAGS: PREL PINR FJ XU XV PP NH CH
SUBJECT: PRELIMINARY PIF SECRETARIAT READOUT ON PT. MORESBY
LEADERS MEETING

REF: SUVA 0031

SUVA 00000053 001.3 OF 002


Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Richard Pruett. Reasons 1.5 (b)
and (d)


SUMMARY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SUVA 000053

SIPDIS

PASS TO EAP PDAS GLYN DAVIES AND EAP/ANP
USPACOM FOR LTC JENNIFER HUGHES

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/10/2019
TAGS: PREL PINR FJ XU XV PP NH CH
SUBJECT: PRELIMINARY PIF SECRETARIAT READOUT ON PT. MORESBY
LEADERS MEETING

REF: SUVA 0031

SUVA 00000053 001.3 OF 002


Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Richard Pruett. Reasons 1.5 (b)
and (d)


SUMMARY


1. (SBU) Deputy Chief of Mission Richard Pruett met briefly
on February 3 with Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Secretariat
officials to seek their views on the January 27 PIF Special
Forum Leaders Meeting in Port Moresby. The Secretariat
officials: confirmed that public pronouncements aside, the
unity of the PIF remains shaky; hinted at a possible new
initiative involving the Melanesian Spearhead Group, and;
forecast that the PIF,s new chair, Canberra, will seek to
expand the Forum,s agenda, looking past Fiji for the purpose
of focusing on wider regional issues. End summary.

RAPID REACTION FORCE


2. (SBU) Meeting on February 3 with PIF Deputy Secretary
General Peter Forau, Regional Security Advisor Matthew
Leslie, and Political Issues Advisor Desna Solofa, DCM Pruett
asked for their read-out on the Special Forum Leaders Meeting
held in Port Moresby on January 27. Forau opened by
informing Pruett that the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) is
planning to meet soon to discuss Fiji and a range of other
issues, including trade and possible formation of a &rapid
reaction force.8 When DCM Pruett asked for more information
about the rapid reaction force, Forau replied that the
Secretariat had asked for but not yet received an explanation
of the topic. Forau suggested that the purpose of the force
might be for MSG members to assist each other with an
organized response in the event of an emergency.

SKEPTICISM RE CONSISTENCY


3. (SBU) DCM Pruett noted that the outcome of the MSG
meeting should be consistent with the outcome from the
January 27 Port Moresby meeting. Forau repeated the word
should, with a tone of skepticism. He said that the
statement by Vanuatu Prime Minister Edward Natapei on his
return to Port Vila had tended to &undermine8 the position
adopted by the PIF leaders at the end of their meeting.

(Note: The PIF leaders, communiqu called for Fiji to
announce a timeframe for the return to democracy by May 1 and
to hold elections by December or face targeted measures.
Natapei said Vanuatu wanted the Forum to give Fiji more time
to come up with a timeframe.)

DEFINING SUSPENSION


4. (SBU) Leslie stated his frustration with journalists and
others who claim that the PIF is weighing Fiji,s suspension
from the PIF. He noted that the PIF is not talking about the
possibility of suspending Fiji,s membership but only its
participation in various Forum meetings and events and
regional assistance programs. He mentioned that many of the
leaders had wanted to strike any mention of suspension, but
one had insisted on its retention. (Note: PIF
non-attribution rules prevented Leslie from identifying the
lone hold-out, only referred to as a &minister.8)

UNLIKELY TO MEET DEADLINES


5. (SBU) Leslie characterized the December date for
elections as a &statement of frustration8 by the leaders of
the neighboring countries toward Fiji,s leader Commodore
Bainimarama for having excused himself from the PIF
deliberations on Fiji for the second time in a row. Leslie
said many of the leaders had come to Port Moresby prepared to
give Bainimarama a sympathetic hearing. He said that
everyone recognized that there was &some diversity8 within
the group regarding the best ways for approaching the Fiji
problem and that there was a &general consensus8 at the
leaders meeting that Fiji was unlikely to be able to meet the

SUVA 00000053 002.2 OF 002


December deadline, especially in view of Bainimarama,s
non-attendance. The Forum had nonetheless adopted its
communiqu in order to signal its seriousness, while leaving
Fiji a &window of opportunity8 to mend its ways by showing
genuine intent to return to democratic governance.

PIF - NOT JUST ABOUT FIJI


6. (SBU) Forau was upbeat about Canberra,s assuming
chairmanship of the PIF. He said that the geniality of
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd could help proceedings.
He echoed the sentiments of New Zealand Prime Minister John
Key that the PIF would have trouble pleasing everyone and
agreed with Key that it was time for the Forum and the region
to move on and tackle other issues. Solofa added that while
Fiji would again be a major issue at the next leaders meeting
in Cairns, Canberra would not allow the issue of Fiji to
dominate as it has in the past.

CHINESE VISIT


7. (SBU) DCM Pruett asked the Secretariat its views
regarding the scheduled February 8 arrival in Fiji of an
80-person delegation of Chinese government officials and
businesspeople led by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping.
Leslie said that the Secretariat would ask its Chinese
dialogue partner how such a visit is consistent with its
statements of support for the PIF.

COMMENT


8. (C) While we should remain supportive of the efforts of
the PIF to nudge Fiji toward elections, as per the strategy
described reftel, it should be with the recognition that the
PIF is far from monolithic as an organization. The fragility
of the PIF's self-trumpeted unity was underscored by the
last-minute jockeying on dates before the leaders meeting and
Natapei's comments soon after the meeting ended. Bainimarama
seems intent on playing to regional resentment of Australia
and New Zealand in order to drive a deeper wedge between the
PIF and the Melanesian Spearhead Group, although the snub he
inflicted on Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare
by his no-show in Port Moresby underscored his own
fundamental disrespect for, and lack of personal credibility
with, regional leaders. The continuing ambivalence of the
Pacific island leaders toward the question of taking a firmer
hand with Fiji has little to do with the appeal of
Bainimarama or his policies and more to do with their desire
to maintain the &Pacific Way8 of group consensus. An even
bigger driver remains the PIF members, unwillingness to
commit organizational hara-kari by ousting from membership
the country that hosts the organization,s headquarters and
serves as the economic and transportation hub for this corner
of the world. Paramount for some of these countries (e.g.
Kiribati and Tuvalu) are national interests that make it
virtually impossible to follow through on the PIF,s threats
of targeted measures because of their current dependence on
Fiji. The deadlines imposed on Fiji were as much for the
purpose of binding them to action as they were to spur
Bainimarama, and they are likely to fail on both counts.


9. (C) The notion that the Melanesian Spearhead Group, which
is essentially a sub-regional trade treaty organization,
would have the will or the wherewithal (without outside
financial support) to form a rapid reaction force for the
purpose of intervening in domestic emergencies in fraternal
countries simply is not credible. It is more likely an idea
pushed by Fiji,s interim government in the hopes it might
provide Fiji,s military forces with a palatable multilateral
platform for expanded participation in international
peacekeeping operations. Embassy speculates that the Chinese
visit--Xi,s only South Pacific stop on his way to a swing
through Latin America--may be partly for the purpose of
discussing military cooperation related to the MSG.
MCGANN