IN PAPUA New Guinea, it is said -- and bitterly -- that "the Malaysians are to forests what the Taiwanese are to the seas". The allusion is to Malaysia's interests in PNG's forests and the extensive Taiwanese appropriation of marine resources.

One Malaysian company, Rimbunan Hijau, controls more than 85 per cent of all logging in PNG. Environmentalists allege the company used cloak-and-dagger tactics to obtain control over forestry operations. Now, it plans to launch a daily newspaper.

Forest minister Tim Neville says RH has stood out as a company trying to dictate to his government. Although Malaysian investment in PNG is multiplying, the PNG government has told Malaysia that its companies must "comply with local rules or they are out".

Several Papua New Guineans argue that the Malaysians are a front for the Japanese, who consume most of PNG's wood.