Vanuatu bars Daily Post newspaper chief critical of Chinese influence

Canadian citizen Dan McGarry, who has worked in the Pacific island nation for more than a decade, was prevented from boarding a flight from Australia to the Pacific island nation

He sees his blacklisting as another example of the Vanuatu government’s growing deference towards Beijing

3-MIN READ3-MIN

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets Vanuatuan Prime Minister Charlot Salwai in Beijing in May. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 7:30pm, 18 Nov 2019Updated: 9:01pm, 18 Nov 2019

The media director of the largest newspaper in Vanuatu has been denied re-entry to the Pacific island nation, a move he claims is retaliation for reporting on the deportation of a number of criminal suspects with dual Chinese-Vanuatu nationality in July.

Dan McGarry, who runs the Vanuatu Daily Post, was prevented from boarding a flight from Brisbane to Vanuatu’s capital of Port Vila on Saturday, less than a fortnight after the Vanuatu government declined to renew his work permit. Authorities insisted this was done in line with government policy to encourage the hiring of locals.

McGarry is a Canadian passport holder and is allowed 30 days visa-free entry to Vanuatu. His partner, a Vanuatu citizen, returned on her own to the country to care for their children.

“This is my home that we’re talking about,” said McGarry, who has worked as a journalist in Vanuatu for more than a decade.

Dan McGarry of the Vanuatu Daily Post. Photo: Twitter / Dan McGarry

“I’ve lived there for 16 years. I am not a parachute journalist. I think it’s callous and cruel, and it has left my family feeling heartbroken.”