SUVA, Fiji ¨C Take a walk through the city where China¡¯s foreign minister met on Monday with the leaders of nearly a dozen Pacific Island nations, and China¡¯s imprint is unmistakable.
On one side of Suva, the capital of Fiji, there¡¯s a bridge rebuilt with Chinese loans and unveiled with the country¡¯s prime minister standing beside China¡¯s ambassador. On the other, down Queen Elizabeth Drive, sits Beijing¡¯s hulking new embassy, where the road out front has been fixed by workers in neon vests bearing the name of a Chinese state-owned enterprise.
Looming over it all is Wanguo Friendship Plaza, a skeletal apartment tower built by a Chinese company and meant to be the South Pacific¡¯s tallest building, until Fiji¡¯s government halted construction over safety concerns.
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