If this story on Four
Corners is correct, China is applying the same playbook in the Solomon Islands
as in Sri Lanka. First the political payoffs, then the debt trap, then the
naval base.
Australia’s government owned ABC TV has screened a Four Corners program here and below dated August 1, 2022.
The article below is based on the Four Corners episode.
ARTICLE
Angus Grigg, Stephanie March and Amy Donaldson have provided this ABC article, of August 1, 2022, with excerpts below:
"Australia urged to
intervene as China tries to buy a strategic Solomon Islands port"
A Chinese state-owned company is negotiating to buy a deep-water port
and World War II airstrip in Solomon Islands, as new documents detail how money
from Beijing has helped keep the Pacific nation's controversial leader in
power.
As a battle for influence plays out in the region, an investigation by
Four Corners has found China is aggressively pursuing economic opportunities
across the Solomons to boost Beijing's strategic interests.
One asset being targeted by China is a hardwood forestry plantation on
the island of Kolombangara [see maps above] which features a protected harbour, deep-water port
and an airstrip.
A delegation from the state-owned China Forestry Group Corporation visited the island in 2019 and, according to those present, showed little interest in the trees.
Instead, one member of the group pointedly asked: "How long is the wharf and how deep is the water?"
Since COVID-19 border restrictions lifted last month, talks have
resumed.
Silas Tausinga, a Solomon Islands MP whose electorate sits next to
Kolombangara, believes China's ambition to house military assets in his country
remains strong, despite months of high-level political and media attention.
"Absolutely, Australia should be worried about it," he told
Four Corners.
This push is only possible because the Solomons severed diplomatic ties
with Taiwan in favour of Beijing in 2019.
Since then, China has mobilised funds to support the country's combative
Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare.
Chinese [Bribes] slush fund
Documents obtained by Four Corners show a Chinese slush fund was
activated twice last year and dispersed nearly $3 million directly to members
of parliament loyal to the Prime Minister.
One letter signed by Mr Sogavare said the Chinese embassy in
Honiara "consented" to provide "additional support" for his
government in August last year.
That was in the lead-up to a vote of no confidence, which could have
toppled the Prime Minister and undermined Beijing's ambitions in the tiny
Pacific nation.
Mr Sogavare described the money as a "stimulus package" to
revitalise the economy, although it was only given to MPs loyal to him. Opposition members
received nothing.
[The Australian Government, with aid and investments, is trying to counter the Chinese debt trap takeover, but it cannot use bribes like China does.]
Asked if the Chinese money allowed Mr Sogavare to retain his job, Mr
Tausinga said: "Well, he's stayed in power, hasn't he?"
Beijing's desire for a military presence in the Solomons was revealed in
a recently leaked letter from 2020, in which a Chinese defence contractor sought
to lease land in Isabel Province to develop "naval and infrastructure
projects" for the "People's Liberation Army Navy".
'Strategic threats' to Australia
Clive Moore, a Pacific expert from the University of Queensland, said in
the longer term China could use its economic outposts in the Solomons for
military purposes.
….The forestry plantation on Kolombangara offers both economic and
strategic opportunities.
If a Chinese entity took over the plantation it would control two-thirds of [Kolombangara] island, including 14,000 hectares of hardwood forest, 24,000 hectares of protected forest, the port, a marine base, the airstrip and large areas of flat land.
…Kolombangara has "the best natural deep-water port in the Solomons
that could be used for a large vessel immediately"...."
THE WHOLE ABC REPORT IS HERE.
2 comments:
Pete
Thanks for covering this story. I think it is significant because IMO it shows that the causal factors behind the creation of AUKUS and the Australian SSN project are not going away. This makes the Chinese objections to AUKUS under the NNPT somewhat ironic.
The Chinese and Sogavare claims that the Solomons presence is only for commercial reasons are a diplomatic fig leaf.
1. Kevin Rudd in his recent book outlines the Chinese concept of integrated civilian and military corporations. This means there is no distinction in saying that the SI facilities are for commercial use and could be used for military use. This shift would not be a breach of Chinese law or policy.
2. Other nations have avoided seeking to build naval bases in the areas controlled by Pacific Island forum nations. French and US bases are on sovereign French territory (New Caledonia) and US trust territory Guam etc). A Chinese base would be an intrusion.
3. It is difficult to see how an economic non-military use of the scale of the proposed facilities is feasible. The communications and airfield infrastructure are both beyond that required for current use.
4. The Chinese funds donated to SI politicians are clear foreign interference in the domestic affairs of a sovereign country.
5. Kudos to Four Corners for tracking down the details of this issue.
No problemo Anonymous [at Aug 1, 2022, 9:03:00 PM]
Yes logging is an insufficient reason for such a substantial and growing Chinese presence in the Solomons. There's also very little tourism in conflict prone Solomons as a drawcard.
There seems little doubt Chinese air and naval bases are the main reason.
Also China's NSA perhaps out of China's Embassy, Honiara, may have improved interception opportunites of mobiles and landline telephony within the Solomons as well as tapping the Coral Sea Cable which is shared with PNG-Sydney-Solomons - see https://coralseacablecompany.com/
Cheers Pete
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