Kiribati

• Published in: The Contemporary Pacific 2022-03, Vol.34 (1), p.168-176
• Main Author: Camus, Guigone
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agreements; Candidates; Climate; Climate change; COVID-19; Decision making; Diplomacy; Diplomatic & consular services; Evaluation; Financial support; Floods; Foreign assistance; Foreign exchange; Foreign exchange rates; Global warming; I-Kiribati foreign relations; Infrastructure; International relations; Islands; Marine resources; Members of Parliament; Migration; Parliaments; Politics; Presidential elections; Presidents; Social life & customs; Soil erosion
• ISSN: 1043-898X; 1527-9464; 1527-9464
• DOI: 10.1353/cp.2022.0007

Given its vulnerability to fluctuations in its currency exchange rate and the cost of imported basic products, the Republic of Kiribati is one of the most dependent Pacific Island countries on external financial support (which comes from the US, the European Union, New Zealand, Australia, and China). Global warming and its impacts--sea-level rise, submersion, flooding, erosion, soil and freshwater salinization, alteration of marine resources hit by ocean acidification and deoxygenation, and cultural and legal dilemmas caused by climate migration (ipcc 2019)--increase this dependence. Therefore, Kiribati's international relations are among the government's top concerns. In this regard, and in the context of the covid-19 crisis, which affected both the island economy and social life, July 2020-June 2021 was the year that saw President Taneti Maamau's confirmation of the diplomatic alliance with the People's Republic of China at the expense of Taiwan. Elected in 2016 and reelected in 2020, Maamau has engaged his country in diplomatic, political, economic, and ecological turns for the past five years.