Solomon Islanders have begun voting in a national election, the first since the prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, struck a security pact with China in 2022 and drew the Pacific Islands nation closer to Beijing. The election outcome will be closely watched by the US, China and Australia for its potential impact on regional security, although Solomon Islands voters will be focused on struggling health services, education and inadequate roads, opposition parties said. Sogavare has pledged to further bolster relations with Beijing if he is re-elected, while his main challengers want…
Tag: Solomon Islands
As Solomon Islands’ election looms, China’s influence on the Pacific country draws scrutiny
China’s influence in the Pacific is being scrutinised as ally Solomon Islands prepares to hold elections this month, with two candidates indicating they would seek to review a controversial security pact between the two countries. Ties between China and Solomon Islands have deepened under prime minister Manasseh Sogavare, who is hoping to secure another term in the vote on 17 April. Solomon Islands, one of the poorest countries in the Pacific, relies heavily on partners including Australia and China for development aid and support. Beijing’s assistance ranges from infrastructure development,…
Pacific Islands Forum: China-US rivalry takes centre stage as Solomon Islands deepens ties with Beijing
Pacific island leaders are descending on the Cook Islands for the region’s most important annual political gathering, with the talks likely to be dominated by the climate crisis and growing US-China rivalry. The Pacific Islands Forum (Pif) is an 18-member grouping of 16 Pacific nations, including Australia and New Zealand, plus two French territories. This year, Solomon Islands – which has drawn closer to China since signing a security agreement in 2022 – is reported to be sending a delegation led by the foreign minister, Jeremiah Manele, not the prime…
How Aligning With China Changed Life in the Solomon Islands
In Honiara, they’ve just finished this brand-new stadium, and there’s not enough medicine in the main hospital in the country. There’s medicine shortages, so they’re turning people away from the hospital. You couldn’t ask for a more clear contrast in terms of the misallocation of priorities from the Chinese approach. And that really angers people. There is a really quite sad cynicism among many rural Solomon Islanders that nothing will ever change. They saw billions of dollars getting pumped into Honiara previously from Australia in terms of its peacekeeping efforts…
Biden Hosts Pacific Islands, With a Rising China in Mind
President Biden hosted the leaders of 18 Pacific Island nations at the White House on Monday, the second gathering of its kind in a year and the latest illustration of a regional competition for influence between the United States and China. Speaking to the leaders at the White House on Monday, Mr. Biden invoked America’s World War II campaign against Japan in the region, and, without naming China, implied that another kind of battle was now underway. “Like our forebears during World War II, we know that a great deal…
Biden pledges $40bn to Pacific islands as summit seeks to reassert influence
Joe Biden has offered $40bn in economic aid to Pacific islands at a White House meeting with leaders from the region aimed at bolstering US engagement in the face of growing a growing Chinese presence. The president also announced formal US recognition of two new island nations, the Cook Islands and Niue, at the start of the Pacific Islands Forum, two days of Washington meetings with leaders from the group’s 18 members. “The United States committed to ensuring an Indo-Pacific region that is free, open, prosperous and secure. We’re committed…
Biden Pacific summit suffers setback as Solomon Islands PM skips meeting
The White House has said it is disappointed the Solomon Islands prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, will not attend a Pacific Islands summit with Joe Biden next week. The US president will host a second summit with leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum at the White House on Monday as part of his efforts to step up engagement with a region where the US is in a battle for influence with China. “We are disappointed that PM Sogavare of the Solomons does not plan to attend,” a Biden Administration official said.…
China ‘gifts’ and cost concerns: Pacific Games stir controversy in Solomon Islands
Luke Haga has spent the past two years getting ready for the race of his life. Haga, a sprinter, is preparing for the Pacific Games which will be held in his home of Solomon Islands in November. “It’s a time for sports, fun, and to celebrate our togetherness, ” says the 23-year-old, who is training for his events in China. Held every four years, athletes from 24 Pacific Island countries will compete in the Olympic-style tournament. While many share Haga’s excitement, the Games have also attracted controversy, primarily over the…
Fiji prime minister warns against US and China attempts to ‘polarise’ Pacific
The Pacific islands should be a “zone of peace”, Fiji’s prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, has said, adding that he hopes a rivalry between the US and China in the strategic region does not develop into a military conflict. Rabuka was speaking after attending a summit meeting of several Pacific island leaders, where climate change and regional security dominated the agenda. The leaders of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia’s ruling FLNKS party met in Vanuatu on Thursday. The Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders have yet to publicly…
Solomon Islands newspaper pledged to promote ‘truth about China’s generosity’ in return for funding
Local media in Solomon Islands have been accused of compromising their independence by entering into agreements with Chinese news organisations and accepting thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment from the Chinese embassy. Since the Solomon Islands government signed a high-profile security agreement with China in March 2022, some newspapers in the Pacific country have received cars, cameras, phones and printing machinery that costs thousands of dollars from the Chinese government, via its local embassy, according to local journalists. Some have raised concern about the gifts and the continued close dialogue…