Vanuatu PM visits Huawei to view policing technology
Australia’s concerns over China’s influence in the Pacific are noted, given a recent policing equipment deal between China and Vanuatu.
Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai visited Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen to explore surveillance technology aimed at enhancing policing and reducing criminal activity, his office announced on Tuesday. The visit is part of Salwai’s trip to China before attending a Pacific Island leaders meeting in Japan next week.
China is Vanuatu’s largest external creditor and a major provider of infrastructure. Australia, Vanuatu’s biggest aid donor and policing partner, has expressed concerns about China’s expanding security influence in the Pacific Islands, especially after a policing equipment deal with Vanuatu and a security pact with the Solomon Islands.
Huawei has supplied digital systems to cities like Port Vila, Vanuatu’s capital, to help lower crime rates. However, Vanuatu’s police currently use something other than Huawei’s surveillance system despite the need for a data centre to support such technology. Australia has banned Huawei from its 5G network on national security grounds and has funded subsea telecommunications cables in the Pacific Islands to counter Huawei’s influence, a move Beijing has criticised as discriminatory.
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