Fiji's new Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says he would welcome partnerships with China, but committed to "re-look" at Fiji's military relationships with foreign powers, in his first interview since taking office.
Mr Rabuka told the ABC he planned to preserve the "peaceful atmosphere" of the region.
He was sworn in last week, after a controversial election which saw tense negotiations to form government, and the police request military assistance amid unsubstantiated claims of widespread violence.
Mr Rabuka also chided traditional development partners like Australia and the United States for their "colonial" relationship with Fiji.
"China has come in with a blank sheet of paper. They have seen us as just development partners," Mr Rabuka said.
"Australia and New Zealand and the United Kingdom and America have sort of seen us as output of their colonial regimes of the past and have not reorientated their thinking to the international landscape where we are all equal."
China and Fiji have had a longstanding relationship, with security and policing deals between the countries stretching back more than a decade.
Dramatically in 2017, dozens of Chinese nationals were escorted to Fiji's airport in hoods by Chinese police, raising concerns around the capacity and independence of Fiji's police at the time.
Mr Rabuka said there was "no need" for Fiji to sign up to any further military or police ties.
"We're going to be having a strategic re-look at Fiji's strategic location and military relationships," he said.
"If China's re-emergence in the Pacific would affect the peaceful atmosphere we now have, that is something we have to avoid and it can be avoided with frank, responsible dialogue."
Jon Fraenkel, an expert in Fijian politics from the Victoria University of Wellington, said Mr Rabuka was likely to forge a strong relationship with China, despite being critical of the superpower in the past.
"I do think pragmatism will prevail and the relationship with China around developmental objectives will be strong, even though the political relationship will probably be stronger with Australia and New Zealand," he said.
Transfer of power a first for independent Fiji
Mr Rabuka's appointment as prime minister last Saturday brought an end to days of uncertainty around who would form Fiji's next government.
It also ended Frank Bainimarama's reign as the nation's leader, which began with a military coup in 2006.
Professor Fraenkel said the change in government was extremely significant for Fiji.
"This is the first change for 16 years since the coup of December 2006," Mr Fraenkel said.
"It's even more significant when you bear in mind that there never has been a constitutional transfer of power between government and opposition since independence that has endured."
Mr Rabuka is famously known as Fiji's "original coup leader".
He launched two military coups in 1987 to depose a majority Indo-Fijian government and reinstate indigenous Fijiian dominance, which led to an exodus of non-Indigenous Fijians from the country.
Mr Rabuka has since apologised for the coups, and said he should be judged only for his time as a democratic leader.
This election marks Mr Rabuka's second time as a democratically elected prime minister of Fiji, having been elected to a full term from 1992 to 1999.
"As prime minister between 92 and 99, we did something that was very good, not deliberately trying to obliterate the picture of a coup leader," he said.
"That's what we would like to continue particularly in the development of the socio-economic development of Fiji."
While campaigning, Mr Rabuka's People's Alliance Party was keen to paint the politician as a reformed militant, making particular assurances to voters that he would "look after Indo-Fijians" if he won the election.
What will Bainimarama do next?
Mr Rabuka has signalled his willingness to work with the Fiji First opposition, telling the nation in his inaugural address that he wished "to develop a positive relationship with [Fiji First]".
Recently, Fiji's police issued a border alert for Fiji First politician and former attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, after launching an investigation into allegations that he incited "communal antagonism".
Mr Syed-Khaiyum is understood to be in Australia.
Fiji's prime minister distanced his government from the investigation, saying it had "nothing to do with government-opposition relationships".
But Mr Rabuka's government has asked Fiji's Police Commissioner Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho to step down, amid concerns that his relationship with Mr Bainimarama undermined his commitment to the new government.
"There's a very close relationship, work relationship as well as a personal relationship, with the prime minister in the previous government," Mr Rabuka said.
"It would be unrealistic of us to expect the same sort of dedication and loyalty from him."
With Mr Bainimarama also currently in Australia to attend his son's wedding, Professor Fraenkel said there was uncertainty about the former prime minister's next steps.
"Will he return and become leader of the opposition? Will he retire to his own village in Tailevu? Will he seek some kind of other role?" he said
"There are a lot of questions about the character of the opposition and indeed more broadly about the character of Fiji politics moving forward."
Vision for Australia and Fiji to become 'equal partners'
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese congratulated Mr Rabuka on his election win, saying he looked forward to "strengthening our countries' relationship even further in 2023".
But Mr Rabuka signalled a possible change to bilateral relations with Australia, saying he wanted the two countries to be seen as "equal partners in the Pacific".
"Every nation in the Pacific, every country in the Pacific, members of the Pacific Islands Forum, are equal partners in development," he said.
"There is no longer any recipient-donor relationship.
"We must try and develop ourselves so that we are, we live in a symbiotic relationship in the Pacific.
"We have things to offer, and we also need things from our partners."
