Fiji will maintain a policing co-operation deal with China after a review of the agreement which has sparked concern in Australia, a news site reports.
“We are now back on the original police agreement (with China) - that has been restored, we had reviewed it for 12 months,” a Guardian Australia report quoted Fijian Home Affairs Minister Pio Tikoduadua as saying.
Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka put on hold the decade-old police co-operation deal between Fiji and China after forming government in December 2022, citing differences in policing, investigations and legal systems.
Guardian Australia reported on Friday that Tikoduadua said “there will only be Fijian officers training in China and no embedding of Chinese officers in the Fiji police force”.
Tikoduadua's office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for confirmation of the report.
In February, Australia's Pacific Minister Pat Conroy said there should be "no role" for China, a growing presence in the region, in policing the Pacific Islands.
China's ambassador to Australia said earlier this year that China had a strategy to form policing ties with Pacific Island countries to help maintain social order and this should not cause Australia anxiety.
