A Chinese firm barred Vanuatu log exports after landowner complaints.

Vanuatu is a Pacific Island nation where Beijing and Washington compete for influence. Residents of the country have reported that a Chinese business began logging in during the current political turbulence. This has raised concerns about the environment and workers dressed in military uniforms.

Last week, the authorities in charge of the forests of Vanuatu prohibited the export of logs by Vanuatu Forest Industry Limited (VFIL). At the same time, they investigated landowners’ complaints over the removal of trees without authorization on the island of Santo.

Workers in uniform, driving cars without license plates, were removing property over three months, in which two prime ministers were voted out in short succession, according to the homeowners. One of the residents accused the Chinese company of stealing from them.

Although the export of round logs is prohibited in Vanuatu, an investigation conducted by the government in 2021 discovered that endangered rosewood was being secretly sent to China, where it is highly valued for use in furniture.

China, along with the United States and its allies, is competing to gain favor with the nations located in the expansive Pacific Islands. However, although the country claims to have a non-aligned foreign policy, Beijing is Vanuatu’s most significant external creditor.

A spokeswoman for the Chinese embassy stated that there was “no connection between these workers and the Chinese military” and that VFIL was a commercial firm.

“If the company violates Vanuatu’s law, we believe the Vanuatu government will handle this issue properly and professionally,” added the representative.

He required Chinese workers to wear uniforms because it was “easier for me to facilitate management,” according to Li Hongqi, the director of VFIL. He stated that he supplied the uniforms from China since they were appropriate for wearing in the forest.

According to Li’s email, the company stopped operating in the area due to the export ban. “Our company will strictly abide by the laws of Vanuatu to address those problems.”

According to letters from the government that Reuters reviewed, VFIL registered in Vanuatu in 2019 and obtained a salvage license in September 2020 to collect trees that a storm had brought down. The company also promised to construct a local wood chip mill to turn the trees into paper, but the mill was never constructed.

According to the correspondence and interviews with police and people, landowners in the capital city of Vanuatu, Port Vila, they lodged complaints to the government and police in October and November, stating that the firm continued to chop and clear land while using vehicles that did not display registration.

In contravention of the agreement, farmer Denis Savoie pointed out that the firm had chopped down trees on his land in Luganville, even though Li stated that the company did not log any further trees.

“They ended up cutting down all of the trees, despite our best efforts to stop them.” It was Savoie who stated that they had taken trees.

Savoie and two other residents of Santo voiced worry about the blue marine-style uniforms worn by the workers in a town that served as a United States military post during World War II and where China renovated a harbor in 2017 to the point where it could dock warships. In addition to the environmental concerns, Savoie raised concerns over the workers’ outfits.

“It is both concerning and odd that people in full uniform of the People’s Liberation Army-Navy are clearing forest,” said Anne-Marie Brady, a professor of political science at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Brady is a teacher at the university.

Several Chinese guys dressed in blue camouflage gear were seen sitting with machinery in the forest, and a row of tents was also visible in the images that Brady studied. Reuters provided these photographs. It was Li who recognized the men as his employees.

“It is also concerning that the contract was to take fallen trees and they are cutting pristine forest, and now they are clearing the land,” added the representative.

Before the arrival of Cyclone Harold in April of the following year, Li inked a contract in 2019 to construct a rosewood processing factory in the province of Guangxi in China to export timber from Vanuatu. He made another agreement in July 2020 to provide rosewood from Vanuatu to the furniture sector in China.

Reuters was informed by Li, who stated that he resides in New Zealand, that the agreements were signed in China but that “this cooperation has been terminated.”