Fiame Naomi Mataafa, the new prime minister of the South Pacific island nation of Samoa, has pledged to shelve a huge port development project under the Communist Party’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) after taking office. This is not only a major shift in Samoa’s stance toward the Chinese Communist Party, but also another setback for the “Belt and Road” initiative.
According to Reuters, the $100 million Vaiusu Bay terminal development became the focus of debate in Samoa’s April elections, which resulted in Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, who led the country for 20 years, losing his majority in Congress and making Matafa the country’s first female prime minister.
Matafa said there are more pressing needs than building a new port.
“Samoa is a small country and our seaport and airport can already meet our needs.” Mataafa told Reuters.
“It’s hard to imagine that we need a development case of this size when the government needs to prioritize more pressing projects.”
Her stance symbolizes a flip-flop in Samoa’s position, which Beijing has seen as a close ally of the Communist Party during Malirego’s 20-year tenure as leader. It often described the Vieuxeu Bay terminal project as a “Chinese-funded project” that would create jobs and boost trade and tourism. However, neither the port design nor the funding arrangements have been fully disclosed.
Matafa noted that Samoa’s huge debt to China is putting the people under a lot of pressure. China is Samoa’s largest creditor, and with a population of only 200,000, the Chinese debt amounts to about $160 million, or 40 percent of the country’s foreign debt.
The location of the port of Vieuxu, close to Samoa’s current main port of Apia, has in fact been recently expanded with the assistance of Japan.
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