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Solomon Islands

US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell (left) attends a ceremony in Port Vila, Vanuatu, on Thursday to repatriate sacred human relics seized in New York by the FBI in 2016. Campbell also attended the opening of America’s new embassy in the Pacific nation. Photo: Reuters

As No 2 US envoy ends Pacific tour, Beijing scores a diplomatic win on Taiwan

After Beijing envoy demands ‘correction’, Pacific Islands Forum scraps Taiwan reference from its annual summit’s final communique.

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Australia urged to cut fossil fuels as Pacific backs landmark policing plan

Australia pushes Pacific police force proposal to check China’s ambitions

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China vows to help Fiji tackle climate change in push for greater Pacific role

President Xi Jinping made the pledge along with promises of economic support in a meeting with Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka

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Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka arrives at the Great Hall of the People for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photo: AP

Kiribati’s pro-China government faces election test

The nation of roughly 120,000 residents switched ties from Taiwan to Beijing in 2019, and is considered strategic despite being small, because it is relatively close to the US state of Hawaii.

As China’s sway over Pacific islands grows, will Japan counter by aiding Palau?

Analysts think Tokyo will answer the island nation’s appeal for help monitoring Chinese vessels, as it has done so with others in the region.

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Solomon Islands props up budget with China’s US$20 million injection

The Pacific nation’s PM announced the funding after talks with President Xi Jinping in Beijing, hailing China’s ‘transformative’ presence.

Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele in Beijing on July 12. Photo: Xinhua

Solomon Islands ‘locks in’ China ties with another pro-Beijing prime minister

New prime minister Jeremiah Manele is expected to apply a “lighter touch” to ties with Beijing given the demand for greater transparency.

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‘Geopolitics is at play’: Solomons’ pro-China PM not standing for new term

Solomon Islands incumbent PM Manasseh Sogavare said he would not be a candidate when lawmakers vote next week for a new prime minister, and his political party would instead back ex-Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele.

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Solomon Islands’ pro-China PM fails to secure outright majority

Manasseh Sogavare’s Our Party has won 12 seats with six contests still in play, well short of a majority in the 50-seat parliament.

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Solomon Islands’ Prime Minister Manasseh. His party has won 12 seats with six contests still in play, well short of a majority in the 50-seat parliament. Photo: Reuters

‘Calling for change’: will Solomon Islands lean closer to China after its polls?

Geopolitics looms large over the polls in Solomon Islands, where Beijing and Washington have been vying for influence for years. But for voters just struggling to make ends meet, Wednesday’s election may be decided by issues much closer to home.

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An election parade in Solomon Islands’ capital Honiara on Monday. The political climate in the Pacific nation has been fractious in recent years. Photo: AP

Solomon Islands opposition figure sounds alarm on China meddling in elections

A torrent of Chinese aid and investment has flowed into the Pacific nation during Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s five years at the helm. He seeks re-election this week.

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Solomon Islands prepares for election in shadow of China’s influence

The archipelago, one of the world’s least-developed countries, is the unlikely focal point of a diplomatic scramble pitting a rising China against Western rivals.

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Japan may be making its biggest security move in the Pacific Islands since WWII

Talks on March 19 are expected to involve Japan’s Self-Defence Forces and police taking part in local and regional responses as well as training.

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Police work at the site of a damaged building in Port Moresby on January 12 following deadly riots in Papua New Guinea’s capital. Photo: AFP

Solomon Islands’ pro-China leader pledges to continue Australia balancing act

Manasseh Sogavare alarmed Canberra and the US by signing a security pact with China, but has pledged to adopt a ‘friends to all’ approach to foreign policy.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomes Manasseh Sogavare to Beijing last year. Photo: Xinhua

Australia pledges aid to East Timor in bid to boost diplomatic ties in region

Canberra pledged A$35 million (US$23 million) for East Timor’s policing services and A$4 million to help Timorese workers integrate in Australia, as part of its commitment to boost ties in the Pacific region amid China’s growing influence.

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Beijing protests to Papua New Guinea over riot harm to Chinese stores, citizens

PM James Marape calls state of emergency as Beijing asks PNG to ensure safety of its citizens and ‘penalise perpetrators severely’.

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Solomon Islands hosts China-funded Pacific Games amid big-power rivalry

Solomon Islands’ PM Manasseh Sogavare has alarmed the West with his pro-Beijing engagement and increasingly authoritarian reflexes. He told This Week in Asia that Honiara’s ties with China ‘were never better’.

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Fans at the China-built 10,000-seater stadium for the Pacific Games in Honiara, Solomon Islands. Photo: Christopher Cottrell

Cracks emerge in Pacific island unity as leaders skip meet amid US-China rivalry

The leaders of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands will not attend this week’s annual Pacific Islands Forum, which also counts Australia and New Zealand among its members.

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US deal with Marshall Islands lapses without renewal, but talks continue

The Compact of Free Association pact, which has steered ties between Washington and the Marshall Islands since 1986, expired on Saturday.

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China and US diplomats overseeing Asian affairs meet to discuss region

China’s Vice-Foreign Minister for Asia Sun Weidong meets Daniel Kritenbrink, US Assistant Secretary of State, for ‘candid, in-depth and constructive consultation’ on regional issues, including Taiwan and maritime issues.

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Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink meets Vice-Foreign Minister for Asia Sun Weidong in Washington. The meeting is the latest exchange in a string of bilateral high-level engagements. Photo: X @USAsiaPacific

Solomon Islands joins China-backed AIIB days after PM snubs Biden invite

COP28 president designate praises bank’s new climate action plan; new report questions AIIB accountability process.

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The eighth annual meeting of the board of governors of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) started on Monday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh under the theme “Sustainable Growth in a Challenging World”. Photo: Xinhua

Biden unveils Pacific nations aid, embassies as Solomons PM sits out

American leader extols ‘security, prosperity and dignity’ for Oceanic allies and partners in latest response to China’s decades-long inroads in region.

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US ‘back in force’ in Pacific as Biden engages with regional leaders at summit

The White House is hosting Pacific island leaders on Monday as Biden promises to take US engagement in region to ‘next level’ but there are notable absences from the meeting.

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‘Appalled’: Solomons joins China in blasting Japan over Fukushima water dump

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare called on Japan to find other options and warned of effects on his South Pacific archipelago.

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An aerial view of the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. Photo: Kyodo/Reuters

Biden to meet Pacific Island nations as US-China attention stays high

Summit between American president and region’s leaders will be second in a year as Washington seeks to counter Beijing’s push for clout.

US President Joe Biden disembarks from Air Force One in New York on Sunday ahead of the United Nations General Assembly. Photo: AP

Pacific Islands leaders meet amid political crisis

Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji and New Caledonia’s ruling FLNKS party are meeting to consider declaring a ‘region of peace and neutrality’, as the nations are at the centre of a geopolitical contest.

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Blinken in Tonga calls out ‘predatory’ China’s ‘problematic behaviour’

The US secretary of state delivered a barbed warning about aid and investment from Beijing as he became the first American foreign minister to visit the Pacific island nation.

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Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands is a nation composed of hundreds of islands in the South Pacific. In 2022, it signed a security pact with China, causing uproar among some of its neighbours, including Australia, and concern for countries such as the US that have strategic interests in the area.
Capital
Honiara
Head of State
King Charles III
Head of Government
Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele
last updated:
25 September, 2024
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