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Fiji – United States relations are bilateral relations between Fiji and the United States. Relations are currently poor, due to the United States' opposition to Fiji's unelected government, which came to power through a military coup in December 2006. == Before the 2006 coup == On 2 March 2005, Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase strongly reacted to a U.S. State Department report criticizing Fiji for practicing racial discriminiation, and for the racial divide between Fiji's two main political parties, the SDL (mostly indigenous Fijian) and the Fiji Labour Party (mostly Indo-Fijian). "Fiji can make a similar report on the US on all those issues. Our report would be far worse than the US State Department's report on Fiji," he said. He went on to rebuke the United States for interfering in Fiji's domestic affairs. In an interview with the Fiji Times on 29 May 2005, America's outgoing Ambassador David Lyons renewed his country's criticism of Fijian policies by criticizing the Qarase government's proposed Reconciliation and Unity Commission. Lyons expressed concern that its provisions for amnesty for persons convicted of involvement in the coup d'etat that overthrew the elected government in 2000 would encourage further coups in the future. "If a democratic society doesn't make it clear that the violent over-throw of its elected leaders is a crime against that society, I have to think that it is inviting future upheaval," he said. He also condemned statements of public figures predicting coups if they, their party, or their race is not successful in the next parliamentary election, saying that such threats were "absolutely despicable in a free, democratic society"'' and constituted "the worst form of scaremongering." Lyons said that the amnesty for perpetrators of the 1987 coups had been an error of judgement and had set a precedent which could negatively affect the future unless stopped now. He concurred with statements made by a number of Fijian politicians, including deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and Senator Adi Koila Nailatikau, that a coup culture had taken root in Fiji. He warned that tourism, which forms the mainstay of the Fijian economy, would be adversely impacted by any further instability. He believed, he said, that the Qarase government was sincere in its commitment to democracy, and acknowledged positive steps taken by the government to restore the rule of law. He added a word of caution, however: "All of these positive steps ... will vanish in an instant if there is another coup or sufficient political upheaval questioning the legitimacy of future elections." On 12 July, however, Lyons cautioned the Fijian military against using the legislation as a pretext for a coup d'état. Their concern over the proposed law was understandable, he said, but it did warrant the overthrow of the government. "Extra constitutional action against a duly elected democratic government ... is unacceptable," he said. A coup would be detrimental not only to Fiji, but to the entire Pacific region, Lyons said. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fiji–United States relations」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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