Samoa Election Seen as Setback to China’s Pacific Ambitions 

China’s diplomatic and strategic expansion into the South Pacific appears to have run aground – at least temporarily – in Samoa, where a Beijing-allied leader has been defeated in a history-making election.

A three-month constitutional crisis was resolved in late July, when Samoa’s Supreme Court declared the office of prime minister had been rightfully won by the nation’s first female chief executive, 64-year-old Fiame Naomi Mata’afa. Among the top issues in the election, which narrowly unseated long-serving Prime Minister Tuila’epa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, was a pledge by Fiame to reconsider a Beijing-financed deal for a major expansion of the island’s seaport at Vaiusu Bay. Making good on her promise, Fiame promptly announced that she was shelving the $100 million project, saying the proposed expansion exceeded Samoa’s needs and would leave it with too much debt.