Solomon Islands Prime Minister Says China Saved the Island; Former Provincial Premier Says CCP Weaponized It

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare (R) and China's Premier Li Qiang inspect the guard of honor during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on July 10, 2023. (Andy Wong/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The Solomon Islands’ leader said on Aug. 21 that the 2023 Pacific Games projects—which are funded by Beijing—had spared the Pacific Island nation from “total economic collapse” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare made the remarks during a handover ceremony of the Pacific Games Stadium to the Solomon Islands, which was attended by Chinese Ambassador to the Solomon Islands Li Ming.

The 2023 Pacific Games are set to be held from Nov. 19 to Dec. 2 in the Solomon Islands. Beijing covered half of the event’s funding, totaling SBD$1.85 billion ($221 million), which includes stadium construction.

The Solomon Islands contributed one-third of the funding. Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Japan also made contributions, according to multiple reports.

Mr. Sogavare said the investments brought in by the Pacific Games leveraged major infrastructure projects, such as upgrading the country’s international airport and advancing highway construction.

“It is the 2023 Pacific Games projects that saved Solomon Islands from total economic collapse during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when the global, regional, and our very own economy contracted,” he said, according to a statement.

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The Solomon Islands also signed an exchange of notes with China that will allow 80 Solomon Islands athletes to undergo a three-month training period in China for the upcoming Pacific Games.

‘Debt Trap Diplomacy’

Mr. Li said 1,000 Solomon Islanders and 300 Chinese workers were hired to construct the main stadium. He referred to the stadium as “a symbol of the China–Solomon Islands friendship.”

He called the stadium the largest project that China had built for the Pacific island region and attributed it to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

China’s BRI, which Chinese leader Xi Jinping launched in 2013, has poured billions of dollars into infrastructure projects across Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Asia.

However, the United States has repeatedly criticized the CCP for expanding its geopolitical influence through predatory lending practices. BRI projects have raised the risk of economic distress in many borrower countries, including Sri Lanka and Pakistan, because of unsustainable loan levels and opaque contracts.

Beijing has also come under fire for implementing “debt-trap diplomacy” to seize control of strategic assets in emerging countries. In December 2017, the Sri Lankan government leased the entire Hambantota Port to China for 99 years to convert loans—of which it owed $1.4 billion—into equity.

Ousted Official Warns About China Deals

Daniel Suidani, former premier of the Malaita Province in the Solomon Islands, is seen in Washington on April 25, 2023. (Wei Wu/The Epoch Times)

Former Malaita Province Premier Daniel Suidani has previously accused the CCP of bribing politicians throughout the Solomon Islands and weaponizing the Pacific Islands nation for its own purposes.

“People need to be aware of the way that the CCP is dealing with development in our country,” he said at an April 28 talk at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

“They do not share our values at all.”

The Solomon Islands Foreign Affairs Ministry didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment on Mr. Suidani’s claims by press time.

Mr. Suidani was ousted after a vote of no confidence by the provincial Legislature in February. He has been the target of CCP-backed persecution efforts largely because of his vocal support for the people of Taiwan and his efforts to enforce a moratorium on new CCP-backed ventures in his country.

Sogavare Alleges Australia, NZ Ceased Aid Funding

Since Mr. Sogavare came to power in 2019, he has undone the country’s bilateral relations with Taiwan, signed a controversial security deal with the CCP in April 2022, and secured a $66 million loan from China three months later. The move allowed Chinese telecom giant Huawei to build 161 mobile communication towers nationwide.

In July, Mr. Sogavare alleged that Beijing had stepped in to provide funding after Australia and New Zealand cut off their $12 million and $15 million aid contributions, respectively.

“This has left this country and people in a predicament. But I am glad to announce and delighted to announce the People’s Republic of China has really stepped up to provide this budget support needed for 2023,” he told reporters in Honiara, Solomon Islands, on July 17.

Australian authorities have outright denied any delay in funding.

Emel Akan, Andrew Thornebrooke, and Daniel Y. Teng contributed to this report.