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 by Staff Writers Avarua, Cook Islands (AFP) Aug 24, 2018
The Cook Islands on Friday rejected suggestions small Pacific island nations should band together and pressure China to write off loans given under Beijing's foreign aid programme. Tonga Prime Minister Akilisi Pohiva floated the idea earlier this month, saying repayments were eroding national budgets and the issue should be discussed at next month's Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in Nauru. But his Samoan counterpart Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi immediately dismissed the call and this week Cook Islands Finance Minister Mark Brown adopted a similar stance. "I believe the Samoa prime minister shares the same view as the Cook Islands, as we do not agree with a call for China to forgive all Pacific debt," Brown told AFP. Chinese aid in the Pacific has ballooned in recent years with much of the funding coming in the form of loans from Beijing's state-run Exim Bank. Pohiva raised concerns that small developing nations would struggle to repay the debt and could face asset seizure by Beijing, although he later backtracked and issued a statement praising the help China has given to his country. Brown said there had been no regional discussion about the China debt issue ahead of the PIF meeting in Nauru. He said the Cook Islands carefully managed its loans and was ahead of its debt servicing schedule. The Lowy Institute think tank estimates the Cook Islands, a nation of about 13,000, received about $48 million in aid from China in 2006-16, almost 60 percent of it in concessional loans. Australia and New Zealand had raised concerns recently about China's growing influence in the Pacific, ramping up their own aid efforts in response. str-ns/grk/rox/sls
Swimmer resumes Pacific crossing record attempt Tokyo (AFP) Aug 22, 2018 A Frenchman attempting to become the first person to swim across the Pacific Ocean said Wednesday he was resuming his bid, after storms forced him to suspend the ambitious undertaking. "Back in the water today! After avoiding a typhoon we're finally back at the swim point and continuing on with the swim," Ben Lecomte tweeted. Lecomte set off from Choshi in Japan on June 5 and planned to swim across the ocean to San Francisco in six to eight months. But nearly two months into the epic journey ... read more
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