The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is exporting its village surveillance model from Mao Zedong’s era to the Solomon Islands, Beijing’s security partner in the Pacific, a move that has triggered concerns from the opposition leader.
Chinese police, along with the Solomon Island government, visited multiple villages this year to launch the “Fighter One community” and to promote the model.
“Currently, the Fighter One community is the first attempt, and it will be expanded to a larger area across the country in the future,” said Chinese police inspector Lin Jiamu, who was quoted in a Sept. 3 article on the Solomon Islands government’s official website.
“CPLT (China Police Liaison Team) explained the core of community policing work, population management, trained skills such as filling out household registration cards and population information cards, drawing community maps, and collecting fingerprints and palm prints, and shared the Fengqiao experience of community policing management from China.”Historically, the CCP’s “Fengqiao” monitoring model is based on how authorities would mobilised community members to rally against reactionary “class enemies.”
This model was executed in Fengqiao, a town in coastal Zhejiang Province, praised by Mao Zedong, and adopted by current CCP leader Xi Jinping.
Xi once bragged about the Fengqiao experience, describing it as “relying on the masses to resolve conflicts locally.”
Andrew Nihopara, a community leader in the Solomon Islands, confirmed to Reuters that the village of Fighter 1, which is located on the outskirts of the capital Honiara, had started collaborating with Chinese police on the Fengqiao pilot project.
Another Chinese police statement on social media seen by Reuters shows Chinese officers promoting the “Fengqiao Experience” while visiting 16 villages in Malaita, the largest province in the Solomon Islands that has a history of anti-CCP protest.
The Solomons is considered one of the CCP’s closest allies in the region.
In 2019, the Solomon Islands switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the CCP-ruled People’s Republic of China (PRC) under the pressure of Beijing.
The diplomatic switch triggered anti-government riots in Honiara in 2021, with Beijing blaming blaming the United States, Australia, and Taiwan for the riots.
In 2022, the Solomon Islands government signed a controversial military pact with Beijing, and in July 2023, both the island nation and Beijing agreed to boost cooperation on “law enforcement and security matters.”
Human Rights Concerns
The latest move has triggered human rights concerns from the opposition.
“It is an infringement on individual rights that are protected by our constitution and should have come through parliament, through our laws,” opposition party politician Peter Kenilorea told Reuters, adding that there are better ways to manage impoverished or struggling communities.
This comes after the Royal Solomon Islands police took part in an exchange program with CCP police on Jan. 10.
The Solomon Island officers attended the “insight exchange program,” in which Chinese police shared videos on how they were committed to “serving the people.”
The date itself marks Chinese People’s Police Day in China, or “110”—the emergency service number in China, the same as 999 in the Solomon Islands.
