Category Archives: Solomon Islands

Poorer countries suffer most from global health crises, we need help to handle coronavirus | Dr Claude Posala

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Pacific nations, still reeling from a devastating measles outbreak, have watched news out of Wuhan in panic

As Pacific Islanders watched updates about the coronavirus outbreak over the past few weeks, unease soon gave way to panic.

Still reeling in shock from a measles outbreak in Samoa, Pacific Islanders’ fears were stoked as it became apparent that even large, well-developed countries were struggling to contain the outbreak. Low-resourced settings always suffer the greatest losses in global medical crises and people living in these island nations are not blind to that detail.

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The lesson from my trip to China? Solomon Islands is not ready to deal with this giant

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After my nation switched allegiance to China, it took journalists on a ‘look and learn’ tour

The invitation from the prime minister’s office came in mid-November, almost exactly two months after the event referred to as “the switch” – the day the government of Solomon Islands, after more than 30 years of diplomatic allegiance to Taiwan, unceremoniously switched recognition to China.

“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] want to take SI [Solomon Islands] media on an ‘Look and Learn’ tour of China,” the email said, “you’re on the list.”

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US is losing the battle for Pacific power

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Trump’s neglect of the region has left a political vacuum that China is rushing to fill – and small nations such as the Solomon Islands are stuck in the middle

If anything demonstrates the interconnectedness of the 21st-century world, it is how a decision made in the Solomon Islands, population 650,000, in the remote South Pacific, can affect the behaviour of powerful countries on the other side of the globe. That, in a way, is exactly what happened last week when Nato leaders met in London. Top of their agenda was Donald Trump’s demand that Europe pay more for its defence. But why is the US so exercised about so-called “burden-sharing”? In part because, these days, it is looking west, not east.

The US has identified China, not Russia, as the biggest strategic, economic and potential military rival to its global leadership. Barack Obama, who was dubbed the “Pacific president”, formalised this shift with his 2011 “pivot to Asia”, which prioritised the region.

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Solomons’ government vetoes Chinese attempt to lease an island

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Agreement for Tulagi, a former Japanese naval base with a deep-water harbour, ‘unlawful’

A Chinese company’s attempt to lease an entire island in the Solomon Islands was unlawful and will not be allowed to go ahead, the Pacific archipelago’s government has announced.

The deal between the Solomons’ Central Province and the state-owned China Sam Group was “unlawful, unenforceable and must be terminated with immediate effect”, prime minister Manasseh Sogavare’s office said in a statement.

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China extends influence in Pacific as Solomon Islands break with Taiwan

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Blow for Taipei as largest remaining ally in region switches relations to Beijing

The Solomon Islands’ government has voted to sever its longstanding ties with Taiwan and take up diplomatic relations with Beijing.

The move is a huge blow to self-ruled Taiwan, which has lost six allies since 2016, and to Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, who is seeking re-election in January amid rising tension with China. It has sparked protests in the Solomon Islands, according to local media.

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Solomon Islands poised to switch allegiance from Taiwan to China

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Pacific nation is one of the few countries that recognise Taiwan, but this may soon change

The Solomon Islands intends to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan and align itself with Beijing, the leader of a high-level government team representing the South Pacific archipelago has said.

The switch, which still needs to be formalised, would be a prize for China in its bid to peel away allies from what it considers a wayward province with no right to state-to-state ties. Only 17 countries now recognise Taiwan.

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Solomon Islands: bay hit by oil spill suffers second contamination crisis

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An estimated 5,000 tonnes of bauxite has spilled into Kangava Bay, where a tanker ran aground in February

A second major spill has hit the pristine Solomon Islands bay where a bulk carrier ran aground on a coral reef and leaked oil earlier this year.

On Monday, an estimated 5,000 tonnes of bauxite, the ore used in aluminium smelting, slipped into the water at Kangava Bay, Rennell Island, while it was being loaded on to a barge.

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Scott Morrison to sell Pacific ‘step up’ on Solomons visit as pressure builds over climate

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Australia to discuss Pacific investment bank and infrastructure amid concerns over Chinese influence

Australia is set to sound out the Solomon Islands on its infrastructure wish list and pitch its new Pacific investment bank, amid growing concerns over Chinese regional influence and debt-trap diplomacy.

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, is expected to arrive in the capital, Honiara, on Sunday for a day-and-a-half bilateral visit before he heads to the United Kingdom and Singapore.

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Alarm over failure to deal with Solomon Islands oil spill threat

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Mining operations continue while more than 500 tonnes of fuel oil remain on board MV Solomon Trader, almost a month after it ran aground

The environmental damage from an oil spill in the Solomon Islands has been worsened by a bauxite mining company’s continued loading operations near the site where a $30m bulk carrier went aground last month.

The Solomon Islands government has sought urgent help from Australia to deal with the environmental disaster because of frustrations at the slow progress in dealing with the spill.

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Bulk carrier runs aground on Solomon Islands reef spilling oil

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Cyclone delays cleanup after ship runs aground in rough seas near Rennell Island

Solomon Islands authorities are scrambling to clean up an oil spill caused after a bulk carrier came aground about a fortnight ago on a coral reef on the southern coast.

Category 2 cyclone Oma and rough weather had delayed efforts to salvage the ship, MV Solomon Trader.

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Bill Quinn weeps as he casts a wreath into the sea for those who died in WWII battle

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It was a vastly different scene last time Bill Quinn was on an Australian Navy ship outside Honiara, capital of the Solomon Islands. The then 19-year-old - a stoker on HMAS Australia in the Battle of Savo Island during World War II - saw something horrific - a scene that has stuck with him since that day.