Commentary Samoa has canceled a $100 million port that China planned to build by loaning the cash-strapped nation. This is an about-turn for Samoa, which is rightly asserting independence and financial discipline when it comes to China’s opaque development loans. On July 30, Reuters published an exclusive interview with Samoa’s new prime minister, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, who confirmed the cancellation of the China-backed port construction. Mata’afa implied that the port project lacked any fundamental benefits for Samoa, and said that China’s interest in the Pacific region grew as the United States “moved out” of the area. In the interview, which took place on July 28, she said, “There seems to be a renewed interest in the Pacific [by China], which may be a good thing, but not necessarily.” Mata’afa had in May, before the election, told Reuters she would cancel the project due to excessive costs for a small nation …