Last Week in the Pacific: Tomb Sweeping Day, Qian Bo’s Samoa Foray, and People-to-People Ties
Jiangsu Province, on China’s east coast, is developing provincial-level ties with Vanuatu.
Last week, the Jiangsu Province CCP Committee Secretary General visited Vanuatu to unveil an agricultural project and award scholarships under the “Study in Jiangsu” program.
During the ceremony, the Secretary General noted Jiangsu-Vanuatu cooperation across agriculture, education, infrastructure development, law enforcement, and sister-city partnerships.
Summary of PRC Activity
Chinese embassies in PNG and Fiji marked Tomb Sweeping Day on 5 April with public commemorations. Chinese Special Envoy to the Pacific Islands Qian Bo concluded his visit to Samoa, where he met with the Prime Minister, other political leaders, and a regional environmental organization. In Micronesia and Kiribati, embassy personnel deepened “people-to-people” ties through cultural and educational exchanges.
This Week’s Big Themes:
Tomb Sweeping Day
Chinese embassy personnel in Papua New Guinea and Fiji commemorated Tomb Sweeping Day last Sunday. The holiday, the fifteenth day after the spring equinox, marks the arrival of spring and honors ancestors. In Papua New Guinea, Minister Counsellor Pang Hanzhao led a delegation of embassy staff and Chinese community members to the Cemetery of War Veterans and Victims in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, located in Rabaul, East New Britain Province. In Fiji, the Chinese Association of Fiji hosted families at cemeteries around the country, where they cleaned gravesites, offered food and joss paper, and paid respects to their ancestors.
Supporting Events
Qian Bo in Samoa
Last week, China’s Special Envoy to the Pacific Islands Qian Bo toured Samoa for several days, accompanied by embassy personnel including Ambassador Fei Mingxing. Qian met with Samoa’s recently elected Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Fosi Schmidt. Qian and Fei also met with Samoa’s Minister of Education Aiono Alec Ekeroma to discuss bilateral education cooperation, including infrastructure, teacher training, and the secondment of Chinese teachers to Samoa.
Qian also met with Easter Chu Shing, Acting Director of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP), along with other senior SPREP officials. Qian’s delegation invited the SPREP team to visit China and meet with the China-Pacific Island Countries Climate Change Cooperation Center in Shandong Province. This meeting follows a $200,000 PRC donation to SPREP in January 2026, which Beijing made shortly after the United States announced it would withdraw funding for the Secretariat.
Supporting Events
- Samoa: Qian Bo Meets with Samoan Prime Minister
- Samoa: Qian Bo Meets with Samoan Minister of Education
- Samoa: Qian Bo Meets with SPREP
People-to-People Ties
Chinese Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia Wu Wei attended the Pohnpei Cultural Day at the Kolonia-China Friendship Gym. In Kiribati, Guizhou Normal University partnered with the Kiribati and Chinese Ministries of Education to launch Chinese language courses at Kiribati Teachers College. After two years in the program, students may study for one year at Guizhou Normal University, with an option to continue Chinese-language education in China afterward. At the Kiribati National Library and Archives, the embassy hosted a handover ceremony for books donated by China-Aid.
Supporting Events
- FSM: Ambassador Wu Wei Attends Pohnpei Cultural Day Celebration
- Kiribati: Chinese Language Courses Commence
- Kiribati: Handover for China-aid Donated Books
* The PRC Pacific Embassies Monitor provides systematic, open-source tracking of Beijing’s public diplomatic activities across the nine Pacific Island Countries hosting Chinese missions. The monitor captures official embassy social media and website posts, supplemented by local sources, to offer a weekly structured intelligence report that bridges critical information gaps on regional engagement.