Debt

The plane, which had just delivered more than 100 ni-Vanuatu university students to New Caledonia, was held up for an hour before being allowed to return to Port Vila.

The Chief Executive of Air Vanuatu, Atu Finau, said there had been outstanding bills for ground handling at Tontouta International Airport.

He wouldn't say how much was involved but he did say the arrears extended back more than two years.

Finau said the airline had now reached an agreement with civil aviation in New Caledonia to settle the debt.

The Head of School and Director Politics and International Affairs, Dr. Sandra Tarte, outlined this when speaking to journalists at the Pacific Journalists Dialogue at the Forum Economic Ministers Meeting (FEMM) in Suva.

Dr. Tarte said this was not an initial Chinese government strategy and the current perception of the Asian powerhouse as an economic colonizer in the Pacific stems from the actions of Chinese firms, rather than the government.