NZ shift in tone on Fiji

Foreign Minister Murray McCully used decidedly soft language when talking about Fiji this morning on TVNZ's Q+A interview.

"I think we have to avoid seeing this as contest that we have got with the military regime to make them have elections,' he said.

"We can't make them have elections and we can't stop them wrecking their economy either if that is what they are intent on doing and that appears to be the case.

"What we can do is make it clear that the international community is there to lend a hand if they need a hand when they are ready to be helped. If they are not ready to be helped at the moment, we are going to just let them work it out."

New Zealand sanctions had not worked and Fiji had taken a giant step backwards.

He said New Zealand's engagement with Fiji at present "wouldn't do us any good, wouldn't do them any good in the short-term.'

"We stand ready to engage when we can be part of a solution rather than part of a problem."

It's is not clear yet whether McCully's shift in tone was incidental or if this is a deliberate shift that will be maintained, but I suspect it is the latter, in the short-term at least.
If relative stability in Fiji at present is a very fragile thing - as some of the website traffic suggests, this is not the time for inflammatory statements.

McCully's calm may have been rebalancing some of the misreporting that went on last week that suggested New Zealand was considering trade sanctions against Fiji or he may have been responding to concerns of other Pacific Island Forum countries that New Zealand and Australia have been too heavy-handed. Diplomats of two forum countries, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea attended the swearing in on Friday of Ratu Epeli Nailatikau as Vice-President (he visited New Zealand in March last year as Foreign Minister to attend the special forum meeting on Fiji).

New Zealand's position on sanctions has not changed; McCully is still talking about possible 'fine-tuning' of travel sanctions against the regime and their family members.
But in diplomacy, the language used often as important as anything else, so if the language has deliberately changed the position has changed.

McCully certainly seemed more sanguine than Prime Minister John Key hardline talk last week about Fiji from China when he backed early suspension from the Pacific Islands Forum.

In the interview McCully was interesting on China, effectively confirming there are the polite views one expresses in public about its chequebook diplomacy in the Pacific, and the real worries about it acting alone without reference to other donors.

"First of all the official line is that we welcome China's generosity in the Pacific, as we welcome anyone making a signicant donation to people who need assistance,' said McCully is what was a small slip.

The interview with Guyon Espiner showed what a strong command McCully has of his portfolio and that he can articulate the values that underpin the Government's policies.