Pacific Briefs
More illegal Chinese immigrants captured on Guam
HAGATNA, Guam (PIR) — Three of eight Chinese men who swam ashore after jumping from a Taiwanese fishing vessel they apparently hijacked have been captured. Five others remain missing, the Pacific Daily News reports.
The boat’s crew, believed to be from China, allegedly shackled the ship’s captain and crew and took control of the 130-foot ship before heading toward the Guam coast, said Lt. Lee Putnam, Coast Guard spokesman.
Wednesday’s incident was the latest in a recent series of suspected illegal Chinese immigrants jumping off ships along the island’s coastline and swimming to shore.
Concern over US delay in approving Fiji ambassador
SUVA, Fiji (PIR) — The government has questioned why it is taking so long for the United States to approve the ambassadorial appointment of senior politician Filipe Bole. He was nominated four weeks ago.
Jioji Kotobalavu, permanent secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, told the Fiji Times it was possible the United States was deliberately delaying the appointment.
“One wonders why it is taking so long,” Kotobalavu said. “If it is a case of deliberately withholding consent, then we may have to reciprocate. Their man (Osman) Siddique will not be here forever. We will wait patiently, but there will come a time when it is either or.”
Bole was nominated by the Fiji government after it became clear very few others would pass stringent U.S. requirements after the May 19 attempted coup.
BP to compensate PNG kerosene victims
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (PIR) — Fuel supplier BP is considering compensating victims involved in fuel contamination explosions last month in Madang province.
Four people died in the explosions, which were caused by gasoline-contaminated kerosene.
Two others are hospitalized in Brisbane, Australia with serious burns.
BP spokesman Neil McMaster said the compensation package is part of on-going assistance being offered by the company since the accident.
Pacific urged to fight US Kyoto Protocol stand
MAJURO, Marshall Islands (PIR) — Pacific Island countries are being urged by the environmental organization Greenpeace to fight against the U.S. decision to pull out of the Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Greenpeace spokeswoman Angie Heffernan said she is disappointed that Pacific countries have not taken a stronger stand on climate change in opposition to the Bush administration’s actions.
Heffernan, aboard the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior near Kwajalein, said the Pacific cannot expect the European Union, which has been arguing for the U.S. to respect the Kyoto Protocol, to fight for them.
She said so far only the Cook Islands and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat have issued statements on the issue and yet the Pacific will be on the front-line of problems resulting from climate change.
