IPSnews.net, Dec 13

Sanctions imposed on Fiji by Western countries following the overthrow, last week, of the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase may push the country’s new military leaders towards its Asian neighbours, particularly a willing China, for support.

Ganesh Chand, a former University of the South Pacific lecturer in economics, says that while the sanctions are aimed at the perpetrators of the coup, rather than the country, they could cause the regime to distance itself from its traditional bilateral trade partners, Australia and New Zealand, as well as Britain and the United States.

Chand cited precedence from the 1987 and 2000 coups when interim regimes headed by the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara and Qarase, respectively, responded to Western sanctions by embarking on a ‘Look North’ policy, seeking new export markets and investment.

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