Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Charlot Salwai visited Huawei in Shenzhen, where he observed surveillance technology aimed at enhancing policing and reducing crime, according to a statement from his office on Tuesday. Salwai, who traveled to Shanghai on the same day, is in China before attending a Pacific Island leaders meeting in Japan next week.
China is Vanuatu’s largest external creditor and a significant provider of infrastructure. However, Australia, Vanuatu’s primary aid donor and policing partner, has expressed concerns about China’s security initiatives in the Pacific Islands. This comes after Beijing signed policing equipment deals with Vanuatu last year and a security pact with the Solomon Islands.
According to a Vanuatu government statement on social media, Huawei has implemented digital systems in cities like Port Vila, Vanuatu’s capital, aimed at reducing criminal activity. The statement mentioned that the police surveillance system requires a data center within Vanuatu.
A spokesperson from the Vanuatu prime minister’s office informed Reuters that Vanuatu police currently do not use Huawei’s surveillance system.
Vanuatu, with a population of around 300,000 spread across an archipelago, has approximately 50,000 residents in Port Vila, its capital.
Australia has excluded Huawei from its 5G network due to national security concerns and has heavily invested in funding subsea telecommunications cables to Pacific Island nations to counter Huawei’s competing offers. Beijing has criticized Canberra’s actions, urging against the use of national security as a justification for discriminatory practices.
