Vanuatu has rejected reports suggesting it plans to phase out Chinese police advisers, saying no decision has been made to end the support of any international partner.
Minister of Internal Affairs responsible for the Vanuatu Police Force, Andrew Napuat, said the Government’s long-term goal was to develop a police force capable of operating independently, but any future withdrawal of foreign advisers would apply to all partners, not one country.
“We are not in a position to phase out any partner as reported,” Napuat said in a statement responding to recent Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reporting.
He said Vanuatu was still building its policing capacity and remained grateful for assistance from its international partners.
“This decision is not about targeting a particular partner,” Napuat said.
“As part of that long-term national development, Vanuatu will slowly phase out all advisors and be able to run its own force.”
Napuat said the process would be determined by Vanuatu as a nation and would not be driven by time-based conditions or requirements in agreements with individual partners.
“We will not phase out any partner due to the conditions in any agreement,” he said.
The minister said the Government would decide when the country was ready to reduce foreign police advisory support, with any changes applying across all partners.
He rejected the implication that China or any other country was being singled out, saying Vanuatu would maintain its longstanding policy of working with all partners without taking sides.
Napuat referred to Prime Minister Jotham Napat’s position following the signing of the Nakamal Agreement, which reaffirmed Vanuatu’s approach of being “a friend to all and an enemy to none”.
He also urged attention to other priorities under the Nakamal Agreement, saying the police component should not overshadow wider national development needs.
“The Government is now putting priority on the economic security of the country,” he said.
Napuat said decisions on policing would be guided by the Government’s police remodelling strategy. Once priorities were identified, they would be communicated to international partners for support.
Vanuatu is approaching its 50th anniversary of independence, which Napuat said reinforced the Government’s long-term objective of building a police force capable of managing its own operations.
The Government said no decision had been made to phase out China Police or any other partner, and any future changes to foreign police advisory support would be made at the appropriate time through a national decision.
