Chinese in Papua New Guinea

he topic of the Chinese in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and, more broadly, in the Pacific Islands, has received much recent attention in the press in Australia and Papua New Guinea, on a Radio National program, and at a seminar at the Australian National University.1 All recognize the increasing importance of the Chinese in the region—in numbers, wealth, and political power—and of immediate and long-term change.2 Papua New Guinea is clearly different from the other Pacific states in its size and resources, as well as its shared and porous borders. Its relationship with China is therefore different, and the extent of that relationship is difficult to measure because some transactions and movements of people are illegal and Papua New Guinea’s statistics are often unreliable.