Editing Vanuatu (section)

===Foreign relations===
{{Main|Foreign relations of Vanuatu}}
[[File:Narendra Modi meeting the Prime Minister of Vanuatu, Mr. Sato Kilman, in Jaipur on August 21, 2015. The Union Minister for External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs, Smt. Sushma Swaraj is also seen (1).jpg|thumb|Vanuatu Prime Minister [[Sato Kilman]] with Indian Prime Minister [[Narendra Modi]] in August 2015]]
Vanuatu has joined the [[Asian Development Bank]], the [[World Bank]], the [[International Monetary Fund]], the ''[[Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique]]'', ''la [[Francophonie]]'', and the [[Commonwealth of Nations]]. Vanuatu has been a member of the [[Forum of Small States]] (FOSS) since the group's founding in 1992.<ref name="singaporebook">{{Cite book|title=50 Years of Singapore and the United Nations |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=978-981-4713-03-0 |year=2015}}.</ref>

Since 1980, Australia, the United Kingdom, France and New Zealand have provided the bulk of Vanuatu's development aid. Direct aid from the UK to Vanuatu ceased in 2005 following the decision by the UK to no longer focus on the Pacific. More recently, new donors such as the [[Millennium Challenge Account]] (MCA) of the United States and the [[China|People's Republic of China]] have been providing increased amounts of aid funding and loans. In 2005 the MCA announced that Vanuatu was one of the first 15 countries in the world selected to receive support – an amount of US$65&nbsp;million was given for the provision and upgrading of key pieces of [[public infrastructure]].[[File:Free West Papua (3) (Imagicity 548).jpg|thumb|[[Free Papua Movement|Free West Papua]] concert in Vanuatu]]
In March 2017, at the 34th regular session of the [[United Nations Human Rights Council|UN Human Rights Council]], Vanuatu made a joint statement on behalf of some other Pacific nations raising human rights abuses in the [[Western New Guinea]] or West Papua region, which has been part of Indonesia since 1963,<ref>{{cite news |title=Freedom of the press in Indonesian-occupied West Papua |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/jul/22/freedom-of-the-press-in-indonesian-occupied-west-papua |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=22 July 2019 |access-date=30 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190725001246/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/jul/22/freedom-of-the-press-in-indonesian-occupied-west-papua |archive-date=25 July 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> and requested that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights produce a report<ref>{{cite news|last1=Fox|first1=Liam|title=Pacific nations call for UN investigations into alleged Indonesian rights abuses in West Papua|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-02/pacific-nations-call-for-un-investigations-into-west-papua/8320194|work=ABC News|date=2 March 2017|access-date=30 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031203404/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-02/pacific-nations-call-for-un-investigations-into-west-papua/8320194|archive-date=31 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="SBSMar17">{{cite news|title=Pacific nations want UN to investigate Indonesia on West Papua|url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/03/02/pacific-nations-want-un-investigate-indonesia-west-papua|work=SBS News|date=7 March 2017|access-date=30 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107034058/http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/03/02/pacific-nations-want-un-investigate-indonesia-west-papua|archive-date=7 November 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> as more than 100,000 Papuans allegedly have died during decades of [[Papua conflict]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Goodbye Indonesia |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2013/01/201313018313632585.html |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=31 January 2013 |access-date=30 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730063457/https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2013/01/201313018313632585.html |archive-date=30 July 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Indonesia rejected Vanuatu's allegations.<ref name="SBSMar17" /> In September 2017, at the [[Seventy-second session of the United Nations General Assembly|72nd Session of the UN General Assembly]], the Prime Ministers of Vanuatu, Tuvalu, and the Solomon Islands once again raised human rights concerns in West Papua.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fiery debate over West Papua at UN General Assembly|url=http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/201860156/fiery-debate-over-west-papua-at-un-general-assembly|access-date=7 October 2017|work=Radio New Zealand 2017|date=27 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001165326/http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/201860156/fiery-debate-over-west-papua-at-un-general-assembly|archive-date=1 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2018, newspaper reports from Australia indicated growing concern about the level of Chinese investment in Vanuatu, with over 50% of the country's debt of $440&nbsp;million owed to China.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/on-the-ground-in-vanuatu-monuments-to-china-s-growing-influence-are-everywhere-20180410-p4z8t0.html |title=On the ground in Vanuatu, monuments to China's growing influence are everywhere |last=Wroe |first=David |date=10 April 2018 |website=The Age |language=en |access-date=11 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180411054524/https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/on-the-ground-in-vanuatu-monuments-to-china-s-growing-influence-are-everywhere-20180410-p4z8t0.html |archive-date=11 April 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Concern was focused on the possibility that China would use Vanuatu's potential inability to repay debt as leverage to bargain for control of, or a [[People's Liberation Army]] presence at, [[Luganville]] Wharf. China loaned and funded the $114&nbsp;million redevelopment of the wharf, which has already been constructed, with the capacity to dock naval vessels.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/china-eyes-vanuatu-military-base-in-plan-with-global-ramifications-20180409-p4z8j9.html |title=China eyes Vanuatu military base in plan with global ramifications |last=Wroe |first=David |date=9 April 2018 |website=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |language=en |access-date=11 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180411085614/https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/china-eyes-vanuatu-military-base-in-plan-with-global-ramifications-20180409-p4z8j9.html |archive-date=11 April 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> In July 2024, China built three governmental buildings, including the new presidential palace, supposedly as a free donation to Vanuatu; this has revived international concerns about the potential overreach of Chinese authorities on Vanuatu and other Pacific countries.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://hongkongfp.com/2024/07/02/china-gifts-south-pacific-nation-vanuatu-new-presidential-palace-in-move-likely-to-ignite-concerns-over-beijings-reach/|title=China gifts South Pacific nation Vanuatu new presidential palace in move likely to ignite concerns over Beijing's reach|newspaper=Hong Kong Free Press|date=2 July 2024}}</ref>

Vanuatu retains strong economic and cultural ties to Australia, the [[European Union]] (in particular France), the UK, and New Zealand. Australia now provides the bulk of external assistance, including to the police force, which has a paramilitary wing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationmaster.com/country/nh-vanuatu/mil-military |title=Military statistics&nbsp;– How Vanuatu ranks |publisher=NationMaster |access-date=12 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510212716/http://www.nationmaster.com/country/nh-vanuatu/mil-military |archive-date=10 May 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Karen Bell is the new British High Commissioner to Vanuatu. The British High Commission to Vanuatu, located in Port Vila, was reopened in the summer of 2019 as part of the UK Government's 'Pacific Uplift' strategy.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/change-of-british-high-commissioner-to-vanuatu-summer-2019|title=Change of British High Commissioner to Vanuatu – Summer 2019|publisher=UK Government|date=3 June 2019|access-date=9 October 2019|archive-date=24 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724050100/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/change-of-british-high-commissioner-to-vanuatu-summer-2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The British Friends of Vanuatu,<ref>[http://www.britishfriendsofvanuatu.org/index.html The British Friends of Vanuatu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708094937/http://www.british-friends-of-vanuatu.com/index.html |date=8 July 2011 }} website</ref> based in London, provides support for Vanuatu visitors to the UK, and can often offer advice and contacts to persons seeking information about Vanuatu or wishing to visit, and welcomes new members (not necessarily resident in the UK). The association's Charitable Trust funds small scale assistance in the education and training sector.