“this is not culture” / “yes, it is”: Conceptualising Kiribati as an Interstitial Island in the Chinese Pacific

Abstract

Conceptualising Kiribati as an interstitial island in the Chinese Pacific provides an opportunity to elaborate on the way it sits at the intersections of culture, geography and history as a sovereign entity with a role of assemblage. As the debate that ensued a Chinese diplomatic visit in 2020 illustrates, such intersections can be absorbed into frameworks that are largely beyond the control of islanders, and be given different meanings. The critical analysis of these debates points to the meanings that get lost in such a process of absorption and homogenisation and applies a decolonial methodology to avoid that. Furthermore, this analysis elaborates on the concept of island sovereignty in a deeper and more articulate way than that afforded by the media format in which those debates are shaped. The way the welcome ceremony has been enacted suggests that the I-Kiribati political project is far from being a passive acceptance of Chinese presence and influence in the Pacific Ocean.