Solomon Islands firmly adheres to the one-China principle and is willing to maintain close high-level exchanges with China, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in trade, investment, cultural and sub-national areas, and jointly respond to global challenges such as climate change, Sogavare said, adding that the country opposes any actions that contain or aim to contain China's development.
After the meeting, the two sides released the Joint Statement on Establishing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Featuring Mutual Respect and Common Development for a New Era Between the People's Republic of China And Solomon Islands. ■
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with visiting Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands Manasseh Sogavare at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, July 10, 2023. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)
Xi meets Sogavare, urging enhanced China-Solomon Islands cooperation
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with visiting Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands Manasseh Sogavare at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, July 10, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)
The two sides jointly announced the official establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership featuring mutual respect and common development for a new era.
Xi noted that China and Solomon Islands are trustworthy friends and dependable partners to each other. He said that since the two countries established diplomatic relations, their friendly cooperation has become a pacesetter for the relations between China and other island countries in the Pacific in spite of a relatively late start. He said their cooperation is a paradigm of unity, cooperation and common development for countries of different sizes, and for developing countries.
Facts have proved that the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Solomon Islands is a correct choice that is in conformity with the trend of the times and in line with the general international situation, and serves fundamental interests of the two peoples, Xi said.
"China is ready to enhance strategic communication and deepen cooperation in various fields with Solomon Islands to ensure the steady progress of the bilateral ties and bring more benefits to the two peoples," Xi said.
He stressed that China greatly appreciates Solomon Islands' firm adherence to the one-China principle, supports Solomon Islands in safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and development interests, and supports the development path that the country itself has chosen.
China is committed to running its own affairs well, and will always be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of the international order, Xi noted.
He said that to help Solomon Islands ensure development and long-term stability, China is ready to share the development opportunities brought by Chinese modernization, strengthen synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and Solomon Islands' Development Strategy 2035, expand practical cooperation in various fields, and expand imports from Solomon Islands.
"China is supporting more Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Solomon Islands, and will continue to provide economic and technical assistance to the country without any political strings attached," Xi said. He urged the two sides to expand friendly exchanges in fields like medical care and education, and said that China supports Solomon Islands in hosting the 17th Pacific Games.
Xi pointed out that China fully respects the sovereignty and independence of Pacific island countries, and upholds the equality of all countries, big or small.
Solomon Islands signs controversial policing pact with China
Solomons’ prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, meets with leaders as part of week-long visit to China
China and Solomon Islands have signed a deal on police cooperation as part of an upgrade of their relations to a “comprehensive strategic partnership”, four years after the Pacific country switched ties from Taiwan to Beijing.
The police cooperation pact was among nine deals signed as the prime minister of Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare, met with the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, in Beijing, underlining the Solomons’ foreign policy shift.
Solomon Islands signs policing pact with China
BEIJING — The Solomon Islands has signed an agreement to boost cooperation with China on "law enforcement and security matters," in a move likely to raise concerns among the South Pacific island's traditional partners including Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
The agreement, details of which were not immediately released, was contained in a joint statement made public Tuesday following a meeting Monday in Beijing between Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.
As part of efforts to build a "comprehensive strategic partnership" the sides agreed to: "Enhance cooperation on law enforcement and security matters. The Chinese side will continue to provide support and help to Solomon Islands as needed in strengthening Solomon Islands' police law enforcement capacity."
Located 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Australia, Solomon Islands has been China's biggest success in a campaign to expand its presence in the South Pacific.
- Sogavare's government switched official recognition in 2019 to Beijing from Taiwan, the self-governed island democracy China claims as part of its territory.
The Solomon Islands signed a secretive security agreement with Beijing in 2022 that might have allowed Chinese military forces in the South Pacific. However, Sogavare rejected suggestions his government might give Beijing a military foothold in the region.
The nearby island nation of Kiribati also switched official relations to Beijing in 2019.
China has already provided the Solomons with police training and donated replica guns and riot-control equipment such as water cannon vehicles. A country of 700,000 people made up of six major islands and some 900 smaller ones, the Solomons has seen periods of ethnic tension, during which Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific island nations have committed forces to help restore order.
- In the wake of Sogavare's warming relationship with Beijing, the U.S. has committed to reopen an American Embassy in the capital Honiara and it and its allies have increased their engagement with the region as a whole.
Biden convened a summit of Pacific Island leaders in September to unveil a strategy that included cooperation in climate change, maritime security and preventing overfishing. His administration has also promised $810 million in new aid for Pacific Island nations over the next decade, including $130 million to address the effects of climate change.
Sogavare also met with president and head of the ruling Communist Party Xi Jinping on Monday, and the joint statement included a reference to "high-quality" cooperation under Xi's signature ""Belt and Road" blueprint that aims to build ports, highways, power stations and other infrastructure financed by Chinese loans.
The infrastructure project has produced tangible, but not always practical, results for countries lacking other forms of financing and has left many recipients in deep debt to China with little sign of relief.
- Solomon Islands has already secured a $66 million loan from the government's Exim Bank of China to erect 161 mobile towers built and run by Chinese communications giant Huawei.
- In 2018, the Solomons awarded Huawei a contract for an underwater telecom cable network, jointly funded by Australia.
- China is also building facilities for the islands to host the 2023 Pacific Island Games.
Sogavare has often signed those deals against strong internal opposition and has secured his position by delaying elections in what his opponents have called a power grab.
- In the joint statement, Solomon Islands declared it opposed Taiwanese independence and supported China's positions on Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet and other areas where China is criticized for alleged human rights violations.
- The statement also urged countries to "prudently handle issues such as the discharge of nuclear contaminated water and cooperation on nuclear submarine."
That was a reference to Japan's plan to release treated but still slightly radioactive wastewater into the sea that China has strongly criticized, as well as the Biden administration agreement given the acronym AUKUS with Australia and Britain to provide the first with nuclear-powered submarines in response to China's moving rapidly to expand its military."
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FROM LOYALTY S
SWITCH TO TAIWAN: GREAT POWER RIVALRY IN THE PACIFIC
A security agreement between China and Solomon Islands could impact stability in the whole Pacific
Fri 25 Mar 2022 19.00 EDT Last
The regional order is changing rapidly and will look very different over the next 10 years.
US to reopen Solomon Islands embassy amid moves to counter China
Washington promises more diplomatic and security resources to the South Pacific region as China’s influence grows
The announcement on Saturday comes as Blinken visits Fiji for talks with Pacific Islands leaders, with Washington promising more diplomatic and security resources to the region.
In a notification to Congress, the State Department said Solomon Islanders cherished their history with Americans on the battlefields of World War II, but that the US was in danger of losing its preferential ties as China “aggressively seeks to engage” elite politicians and business people in the Solomon Islands. . .
The US previously operated an embassy in the Solomons for five years before closing it in 1993. Since then, US diplomats from neighbouring Papua New Guinea have been accredited to the Solomons, which has a US consular agency.
The embassy announcement fits with a new Biden administration strategy for the Indo-Pacific that was announced on Friday and emphasises building partnerships with allies in the region as a way to counter China’s growing influence and ambitions.
The State Department said China had been “utilising a familiar pattern of extravagant promises, prospective costly infrastructure loans, and potentially dangerous debt levels” when engaging with political and business leaders from the Solomon Islands.
“The United States has a strategic interest in enhancing our political, economic, and commercial relationship with Solomon Islands, the largest Pacific Island nation without a US embassy,” the State Department wrote.
The State Department said it did not expect to build a new embassy immediately but would at first lease space at an initial set-up cost of $12.4m. The embassy would be located in the capital, Honiara, and would start small, with two US employees and about five local staff.
> The State Department said the Peace Corps was planning to reopen an office in the Solomon Islands and have its volunteers serve there, and that several US agencies were establishing government positions with portfolios in the Solomons.
“The Department needs to be part of this increased US presence, rather than remaining a remote player,” it wrote.
Blinken arrived in Fiji on Saturday after visiting the Australian city of Melbourne where he had a meeting with his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan.
THE QUAD: The four nations form the so-called “Quad”, a bloc of Indo-Pacific democracies that was created to counter China’s regional influence.
In Fiji, Blinken plans to meet Pacific Islands leaders to discuss the climate crisis, the coronavirus pandemic and disaster assistance. It was the first visit by a US secretary of state to Fiji since 1985."
24 May 2022
THE QUAD - A NEW QUAGMIRE: China’s Wang Yi Says US’s Indo-Pacific Strategy ‘Doomed to Fail’
China’s Wang Yi Says US’s Indo-Pacific Strategy ‘Doomed to Fail’
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the US’s Indo-Pacific strategy is “doomed to fail,” making his remarks while President Joe Biden is in the region to increase engagement with allies and counter China’s rise and influence.
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