'Lack of transparency': Kiribati opposition leader wary of govt's dealings with China

There is nothing wrong with Kiribati being friends with China, incumbent opposition leader Tessie Lambourne says, but it's the way the government is handling this relationship that concerns her.

Lambourne's comments follow the re-election of the Pacific island nation's pro-China President Taneti Maamau last month.

i-Kiribati voters went to polls in August to elect their 44 representatives in the Maneaba. Photo/Rimon Rimon

Lambourne and Maamau were re-elected back into the Maneaba ni Maungatabu, or Parliament, during the August general election. Maamau has returned for a third term as President since severing ties with Taiwan for China in 2019.

Lambourne, 53, says Kiribati has developed a closer relationship with the Beijing government, which has been investing heavily in the Pacific Islands.

She told Pacific Mornings' William Terite that under China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to improve regional integration, increase trade and infrastructure partnerships, and stimulate economic growth, little to nothing is known about Beijing's 'periphery diplomacy'.

"The lack of transparency in the government's dealings with China and perhaps other things is of concern to us," Lambourne said.

Since 2019, the presence of Chinese police and security officers has increased with Kiribati media consultant Rimon Rimon telling Terite that even the government has not been forthcoming on what they are doing in the country.

Lambourne says China's Belt and Road Initiative aims to provide support to Beijing's partners through this programme.

But she's concerned "whether we have taken our loans with China under this programme.

"We have signed on to this, to the BRI, but we don't know exactly what we have signed. In 2022, our government signed 10 MOUs with the Chinese foreign minister, who was in Kiribati at that time.

"Until today, we haven't been able to get government to tell us exactly what those MOUs are about. So this is the concern that we have. Our government seems to be going out of its way to please China.

"There are these things that we have seen, the decisions that they have made, that really, really concerns us."

The presence of Chinese police in the Kiribati capital Tarawa has raised eyebrows for locals and those abroad. Photo/supplied

Located some 4700 kilometres north of New Zealand, Kiribati has a population of just over 120,000 people, according to the country's 2021 Census.

It is probably the only nation in the world where voters go to the polls to elect, first their members of parliament, and then their president.

It has been two months since both votes were held, following a turbulent period of strained relations with Pacific neighbours, tensions with traditional allies, and a constitutional crisis.

Lambourne, who was seen as the only credible alternative to Maamau says she was blocked by the Maneaba from contesting the presidential election.

She was one of six nominees who were vying for a place on the ballot for the popular vote two weeks ago. There were four from Maamau's Tobwaan Kiribati Party (TKP) and the sixth was a newly elected independent MP.

According to the country's electoral rules, there can only be a maximum of four candidates for president. However, Lambourne says the TKP used its significant majority in the Maneaba to ensure that only its nominees would be selected.

An MP takes his oath during the swearing-in ceremony of members of the Maneaba. Photo/Maneaba

She says Kiribati voters are not being given a "genuine choice" because the other nominees support Maamau, 64, and the TKP.

This was not democratic, she said. Lambourne, whose husband Australia-born David Lambourne - a high court judge in Kiribati - was forced to leave the country after parliament voted to remove him in April. He is appealing the decision in court.

As tensions grow in the region, Maamau's win in the popular vote has raised questions about what lies ahead for Kiribati, she says.

Kiribati is also one of the countries most at risk from climate change, facing rising sea levels that threaten its existence - to which China has promised it will help, but at what cost?

Tessie Lambourne says one example is the Chinese foreign minister's visit to Kiribati in 2022.

"This was during the [Covid] lockdown. Nobody was allowed in or out, but there were only controlled repatriations of our stranded nationals overseas.

Watch Kiribati media consultant Rimon Rimon on the election in August.

"Most of our stranded nationals were seafarers who were trying to get home, but couldn't because of the lockdown. Now we had regulations in place at that time. And for those who were repatriated back home required to undergo two weeks of quarantine before they can go out into the community to get a test negative.

"But in May 2022, the Chinese foreign minister visited Kiribati and did not go through that process, a legal mandatory requirement. And that concerns me that the government put our people at risk, for allowing people to come in without going through quarantine.

"It's the way our government manages relations with China that is the major concern. And of course, we're worried that what we're seeing moves towards undermining democracy in Kiribati."

The August election saw 44 MPs elected to the 45-seat Maneaba - one MP was nominated from Rabi Island in Fiji. There were also 17 new MPs, five of them women - a record for the Pacific island nation.

Tessie Lambourne says while she welcomes China as a diplomatic partner for Kiribati, the relationship should not come at "any expense".

"There are certain things that we cannot trade. We cannot trade our sovereignty. Our democratic values and basic principles are important to us, our cultural values.

The Kiribati election has highlighted the global struggle for influence, complicated by rising costs and climate change concerns. Photo/supplied

"I'm still I guess technically the opposition leader. But before the parliament meeting on the 5th of December, the opposition party, and my colleagues, will have to make a decision whether to let me continue as opposition leader or select another colleague.

"If I do continue in this role, it's to make sure to keep government accountable to the people. To make sure that the government delivers on the promises it made to the people during the election.

"Address the issues that our people are facing right now. I sincerely hope that the new MPs will bring into TKP and the government positive changes.

"I think our concern is to make sure that people have medicine because those are the things our people are going through - medicine shortage. Not enough money to pay for patients to travel or to fly from the outer islands to Tarawa where the main hospital is.

"There are also other basic services to the people, power outages on the main island, and the rising cost of living. These are among the main problems that our people are going through. I hope that the government puts the people's needs first.

"We've seen in the last four years that the government is putting its interests before the people's interests. So we sincerely hope there are improvements in the next four years."

President Maamau, the Office of Te Beretitenti, and the Chinese foreign office have been approached for comment.

Kiribati's first parliament sitting will be held in December.

Watch Independent MP-turned-Maamau supporter Ruth Cross Kwansing's interview below.