PM Rabuka’s Ministerial Statement – The Proposal of The Ocean Of Peace: (05-08-2024)

Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank you for this opportunity to inform the House of the progress in the development of the concept of the Pacific as the ‘Ocean of Peace’. This week, officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are taking the Concept through the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) consultation process.

On 15 November 1520, long after the first Pacific islanders had reached this ocean, Ferdinand Magellan sailed into the Mar del Sur (The South Sea – named by Vasco Nunez Balboa, Spanish Explorer and Conquistador) and renamed it Mar Pacifico – the Pacific Ocean – because of its calm waters. The waters of the Pacific are not always calm, they can be stormy, violent and threatening. However, as Epeli Hau’ofa noted “Just as the sea is an open and ever flowing reality, so should our oceanic identity transcend all forms of insularity, to become one that is openly searching, inventive, and welcoming.” [Epeli Hau’ofa, We Are the Ocean: Selected Works]

It is fitting therefore, Sir, that at a time of geo-strategic tension, economic uncertainty, and a changing climatic environment, those who are the ‘custodians of the ocean’ welcome the proposal that the Pacific be an Ocean of Peace, and agree to adopt some high-level principles, to guide efforts to realise this ambition and embed peace as a cornerstone of future policies and strategies.

After having presented to the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders at their meeting in Rarotonga in November 2023 the Leaders
have tasked the PIF Secretariat to further develop the Ocean of Peace concept for consideration at the 53 rd Pacific Islands Forum
in Tonga later this month.

This directive, Mr Speaker, has since inspired deep reflections across the region about the opportunities inherent in this concept. It has also caught the attention of International leaders like President Biden of the USA, President Xi Jing Ping of China, The Emperor of Japan and his Prime Minister, Prime Minister Kishida, and the Prime Minister of India, Prime Minister Modi and I am sure Her Excellency President of India, who is currently in Fiji today.

As a region, the Pacific, knows the value of peace as we lived through the horrors of its absence. This ocean and its diverse and
vibrant lands have been a theatre of the two World Wars, and a testing ground for the most dangerous weapons – the impacts of which are still felt today. Yet, Mr Speaker, this is not a passive region without agency; the collective voice of the Pacific is as loud as it is profound and proud. Building Pacific regionalism over many decades, the Forum Family have created a strong basis to give
effect to this vision, of advancing the region as an Ocean of Peace – the greatest area of the Globe under Christianity yet so fragile and prone to conflicts.

Let me be clear, Sir, the concept of peace comes from deep within our faith in the God of peace, deference, and justice, that finds its expressions in our approach to issues that are embedded in the Pacific Way.

Mr Speaker, an Ocean of Peace reflects The Pacific Way, as first defined in 1970 by the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, at The United
Nations. It is owned and shaped by Pacific people and Pacific traditions.

The concept recognises that whilst core values and Pacific identify are shared across the region, local customs and understandings vary. Humility, quiet leadership, reconciliation and communication run through these definitions. It is a shared commitment to the peaceful resolution of concerns based on the Pacific Way of bringing people and nations togetherto find common ground and manage disagreements.
Towards the Principles

As we work towards the principles, Mr Speaker, the Ocean of Peace concept offers an opportunity to re-embrace foundational
tenets, principles and ethics of Pacific regionalism and to weave the threads of our past with our vision for the future. In this respect, the Ocean of Peace underscores several key themes:

  • protecting and recognising the Pacific’s stewardship of the environment and ocean that underpins the lives and livelihoods and the very existence of our people, and connects us, including, in response to climate change – which our Leaders recognised as the greatest threat to existence, collective security and wellbeing;
  • the Pacific’s longstanding support for, and ongoing contribution to, global peace-making systems, institutions and solutions – which resonates with calls for peace in many parts of the world today;
  • the sophistication and longevity of the Pacific’s advocacy in favour of core global platforms underpinning peace and security, including freedom of navigation, arms control and non- proliferation of hostilities arrangements;
  • the 2050 Strategy vision of a shared responsibility for maintaining Pacific peace and security and for building capability to meet the region’s needs;
  • the Boe Declaration’s broad definition of security as well as mutual respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence;
  • statements reinforcing the Pacific’s peaceful example to uphold international law and urge others to refrain from

actions that undermine peace and security in the Blue Pacific and beyond;

  • the opportunities and benefits for the Blue Pacific in enhancing regional economic connectivity and integration.

Mr Speaker, the Ocean of Peace is a signal that we seek a region in which strategic competition is managed, where stability is the touchstone of regional relationships, where coercion is eschewed and where differences are resolved peacefully.

The Ocean of Peace, Mr Speaker, Sir, is both an aspiration and a pathway to a regional arrangement crafted by the states of the
Pacific region but also respected by the other powers of the broader Indo Pacific region, hence our desire that when they enter the region, they ‘tone down and tune in to the ways of the Pacific’.

Yet the Ocean of Peace cannot survive as a unilateral assertion. It rests, Mr Speaker, on a shared commitment by all states in the region to put a stable peace at the centre of their strategic policies.

Through the Ocean of Peace, we recognise the right of the people to peace and reaffirm the strong resolve of our people to maintain and strengthen international peace and security. By adopting this concept, Mr Speaker, we declare and secure this right.

We are conscious of the determination of the Pacific Island countries to preserve their independence, sovereignty and territorial
integrity and to develop their relations under conditions of peace and liberty.

We are convinced, Mr Speaker, of the importance of promoting peace and cooperation in Oceania for the benefit of the Pacific people, in particular, and humankind in general.

Mr Speaker, we are convinced of the need to preserve the region from acts of militarisation, arms race, and, above all, nuclear weapons – their threats of use and use.

We recognise the interest and responsibility of the PIF membership to promote regional cooperation for economic development and peace.

Working through the Pacific Islands Forum and recognising that this is a long-term objective, Fiji promotes an Ocean of Peace based on a set of principles that recognise and complement existing frameworks.

The Pacific Leaders’ guidance, Mr Speaker, on the refinement of the principles and situating it within the existing landscape of Pacific regionalism and global engagement would ensure it meets the needs and expectations of the PIF membership in a complex and contested environment, regionally and beyond.

As a concept, Mr Speaker, the Ocean of Peace is an opportunity and should be seen as a beacon of hope, that could spur on the evolution of our region’s longstanding commitment to peace and prosperity for our peoples.

The Ocean of Peace Concept promotes and harnesses the innovation of the Blue Pacific and the unique perspective our region brings, on issues of global significance, most especially at a time that the world is going through today.

The Ocean of Peace, Mr Speaker, Sir, offers this generation the opportunity to echo and embrace the determination “to ensure, so far as lies within their power, that the bounty and beauty of the land and sea in their region shall remain the heritage of their peoples and their descendants in perpetuity to be enjoyed by all in peace” – which is codified for those members who are party to the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty (commonly referred to as the Treaty of Rarotonga).