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Modern Island Hopping: The Geopolitical Battle for the Pacific
01.Apr.2021 9:00 AM . 8 min read
In August 2020, China’s ambassador to the Pacific island nation of Kiribati raised a great deal of controversy when he literally walked on the backs of a line of islanders. The United States and its allies strongly condemned the scenario. “I simply cannot imagine any scenario in which walking on the backs of children is acceptable behaviour by an ambassador of any country,” wrote Constantine Panayiotou, the US defense attaché to Kiribati, on Twitter.
But the Chinese saw matters differently. The ambassador, Tang Songgen, claimed that the locals had merely shown him deference according to their own cultural traditions. China’s state-owned newspaper, the
U S Embassy Welcomes New Defense Attaché | U S Embassy in Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Tuvalu usembassy.gov - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from usembassy.gov Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.