Steven Kolova is a PhD candidate from Bougainville. His research is centred on China’s expansion in the Pacific region and development of Bougainville. Basically exploring two-fold aspects: whether Bougainville has features that can attract China’s interventions; and how Bougainville can strategize to pursue its development goals within such intervention modalities. By way of analyses, Bougainville is deemed to have dire need for revenue to finance its independence voted unanimously by 98 percent in the 2019 referendum pending ratification by PNG.
The intended outcome is both states mutually and fairly achieving their intended goals. Hence, analytically this study can be perceived as attempting to eradicate the traditional argument of developed countries exploiting the least developed ones. There is also a highly hypothetical undesirable aspect- whether China with economic and military might would pose a long-term transnational security issues for the pacific region from Bougainville. This is derived from WWII scenario where recapturing of Bougainville by the Allied Forces, largely contributed to defeat of Japanese given its, geo strategic location.
