As China extends its economic and political potential in the world, nowhere is too remote or too small to merit Beijing’s interest, not even the tiny nations which slumber in the South Pacific.
…Chinese restaurants have sprung up all over the region, some of them big and grand, most little more than shacks with corrugated-iron roofs.
Often they are next door to Chinese-run trade stores, where shopkeepers hunker down behind iron-bar grilles and sell everything from candles to corned beef.
The shops and restaurants are the most visible sign of a growing Chinese presence in the South Pacific.