Vanuatu's Internal Affairs Minister Andrew Napuat has publicly contradicted his own government's position on China's police presence in the Pacific island nation, saying no decision has been made to wind back Beijing's policing cooperation program, despite a joint statement issued by both the Vanuatu and Australian governments indicating exactly that.
The contradiction has exposed a significant rift within the Vanuatu government and is likely to complicate Canberra's efforts to draw Vanuatu closer into its security orbit under the recently signed Nakamal Agreement.
What the joint statement said
The joint statement, issued following a high-level meeting between Australian and Vanuatu officials on the implementation of the Nakamal Agreement, described China's police assistance program with Vanuatu as "time-limited and expected to reduce over time." The document drew a clear contrast with Australia's own policing arrangements under the agreement, which it described as "legally binding" with "no expiry date."
The Nakamal Agreement was signed earlier this year by Vanuatu Prime Minister Jotham Napat and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and was widely viewed as a significant diplomatic step in Canberra's efforts to deepen security ties with Port Vila.
Napuat hits back, defends Chinese policing role
Mr Napuat, who travelled to Beijing just last month to personally renew Vanuatu's police cooperation agreement with China, was direct in his pushback. He said Vanuatu was not in a position to "phase out" any of its policing partners and took particular aim at the joint statement's language referencing a third party, widely understood to mean China.
"There is no need to talk about a third party in any agreements," he said.
Mr Napuat pointed to Prime Minister Napat's stated position that Vanuatu would not take sides in its international relationships, describing his country's long-standing foreign policy posture as being "a friend to all and an enemy to none."
"Such statements targeting one partner do not reflect our country's position on its relationships with its partners," he said.
He also stressed that Vanuatu's police force was still being built up and continued to need assistance from multiple international partners, including China.
"At the moment, we are still building our force," he said.
While the minister acknowledged that Vanuatu's long-term goal was to eventually run its own independent police force, he was clear that this ambition would apply to all foreign advisers, including Australian Federal Police officers, and that no timeline had been set.
"We will make that decision when we decide as a nation. We will not phase out any partner due to the conditions in any agreement," Mr Napuat said.
A very different message, Australian sources say
The intervention has not gone unnoticed in Canberra. A federal government source described Mr Napuat's message on policing as "very different" to the one conveyed by another Vanuatu government official just last week, underlining the depth of the division within Port Vila's cabinet.
Mr Napuat is widely regarded within Australian government circles as one of the most pro-China voices in Prime Minister Napat's cabinet. He has previously clashed with Australian officials over the issue of Chinese policing in Vanuatu, including a public dispute with the then-Australian Pacific Island affairs minister over comments made about Vanuatu's decision to renew its policing agreements with Beijing.
The episode illustrates the delicate balancing act facing the Vanuatu government as it tries to maintain relationships with both Australia and China, two partners with sharply competing strategic interests in the Pacific. While the Nakamal Agreement represents a formal deepening of Vanuatu's security ties with Australia, Mr Napuat's statements suggest that not all members of the Vanuatu government are aligned on how far that commitment extends.
Broader implications for Pacific security
The public contradiction comes at a sensitive moment for Australia's Pacific engagement strategy. Canberra has invested significant diplomatic energy in the Nakamal Agreement and has been keen to use it as a platform to progressively reduce Beijing's security footprint in Vanuatu.
China's police assistance program in Vanuatu has included the training of local police officers, and Beijing's growing security presence across the Pacific has been a source of sustained concern for Australian policymakers. The joint statement's specific reference to China's program being "time-limited" was seen as a meaningful concession from Port Vila, making Mr Napuat's rebuttal all the more pointed.
The question now is whether the Vanuatu prime minister will move to clarify his government's official position, or whether the contradiction between the joint statement and his internal affairs minister's public comments will be left to fester, potentially undermining confidence in any commitments made under the Nakamal framework.
For now, the Vanuatu government appears to be speaking with more than one voice on one of the most sensitive security questions in the Pacific region.
