CCP Renews Police Deployment in Vanuatu Ahead of Nakamal Agreement

Officials from Beijing’s Ministry of Public Security, the Chinese embassy in Port Vila, and CCP police in an official photo taken during the rotation of new officers into Vanuatu.While Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was preparing to sit down with his Vanuatu counterpart, Jotham Napat, to negotiate the final form of the Nakamal agreement, a squad of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) police officers was quietly having its deployment renewed in Port Vila.As part of the agreement signed yesterday, Vanuatu agreed to prohibit any foreign military presence on its territory and ban the establishment of foreign military bases. Beijing, however, sidesteps such restrictions by deploying police rather than People’s Liberation Army (PLA) personnel.The Chinese Embassy’s website announced a new rotation of Chinese “police experts” in Vanuatu on June 24 during a formal ceremony attended by Chinese Ambassador Li Minggang, two embassy counsellors, and officials from Beijing’s Ministry of Public Security and the Jiangsu Provincial Public Security Department, which supplies the officers.The Ministry’s website mentions it has sent police to more than 40 countries, but does not disclose which ones.The embassy’s statement said law enforcement cooperation between China and Vanuatu “has been continuously deepened” in recent years, becoming an important part of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.It also stated that the Ministry had deployed a police team to Vanuatu, where it had spent the past three years promoting “in-depth and practical cooperation” in areas such as police equipment, capacity building, personnel training, and law enforcement exchanges.Meanwhile, Li reportedly told the new rotation of police officers that he hoped they would be “guided by Xi Jinping’s diplomatic thought” and fully implement the communist regime’s Global Security Initiative.The redeployment of the Chinese police officers in Vanuatu came as the Pacific nation sought closer security cooperation with the CCP despite concerns from Australia.In September of last year, Vanuatuan officials warned Australia to respect the country’s policing agreement with Beijing.Following a visit to Beijing in September 2025, Vanuatu Internal Affairs Minister Andrew Napuat announced that the two countries would sign a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen Beijing’s police assistance programs, including a new tranche of equipment such as INTERPOL systems, motorcycles, drones, and other gear worth $635,000 (US$437,000).Then, in November 2025, the Vanuatu government announced that it would expel Australian and New Zealand foreign advisers and police officers from government buildings, citing the need to protect its own sovereignty.Australia has tried to counter CCP incursion into neighbouring countries by establishing and funding the Pacific Policing Initiative, and a hub at Pinkenba near Brisbane, which functions as a training centre for the PPI’s Pacific Police Support Group (PPSG).