Opposition figure warns of Beijing’s influence on polls
China’s growing hold over Pacific nation Solomon Islands is “alarming”, a powerful opposition figurehead said yesterday ahead of elections that could further entrench Beijing’s foothold in the region.
Solomon Islands has warmly embraced China under mercurial Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, with the two nations inking a murky security pact in 2022.
A torrent of Chinese aid and investment has flowed into the country during Sogavare’s five years at the helm, and the 69-year-old has vowed to further deepen these ties if re-elected tomorrow.
“During these past five years, there have been so many things that China was involved in. It’s really alarming at the moment,” Daniel Suidani said.
Suidani, the former premier of the most populous island Malaita, said he was troubled by what he believed was Beijing’s corrosive impact on democracy.
Fearful its money could one day come with strings attached, Suidani was one of the rare provincial leaders who refused to cash China’s cheques.
Suidani accused the Chinese Communist Party – or CCP – of working behind the scenes to help keep pro-Beijing members in parliament.
“That is something that is very concerning: the influence of the CCP in this country,” he said after disembarking a crowded boat in Honiara’s thronging port.
“They are very, very involved in this government,” he said earlier on a scratchy phone line from Auki, Malaita’s coastal provincial capital.
“They are involved in other things, so there is no doubt that they must be involved in elections.
Because they have been doing it for some time.”
China has paid tens of millions of dollars into a discretionary development fund used by Solomon Islands’ politicians, according to Australian research.
Critics have suggested this “constituency development fund” is in essence a slush fund used to curry favour with key politicians.
Sogavare has repeatedly denied China poses a threat to the country, and has warned Washington and Canberra to stop meddling in his affairs.
Suidani’s provincial government was so concerned about China’s sway, it blocked telecoms giant Huawei from building desperately needed mobilephone masts on the island.
One of the most galvanising figures in Solomon Islands’ politics, Suidani commands an enthusiastic base of supporters on Malaita.
He was abruptly ousted as Malaita’s provincial leader in February 2023, defeated in a motion of no-confidence while he and his supporters were absent from parliament.
Suidani has accused the Sogavare government of orchestrating what he said was an underhanded manoeuvre to silence one of its most vocal critics.
Observers of Pacific politics believe Sogavare has demonstrated increasingly autocratic tendencies in his quest to stay in power.
“For the international community, I would like to say that we need your support,” Suidani said.
“We want to share the same freedom and liberty that everyone else shares. But now we start to fear there is something holding over our heads.”
Solomon Islands is one of the least-developed nations in the world, and Sogavare firmly believes its path to prosperity lies with Beijing.
But his main rivals are deeply sceptical of his pact with China, and have signalled a willingness to re-establish ties with traditional security partners Australia and the United States.
“The 2024 election is going to be a very critical one for Solomon Islands,” Suidani said.
The election will be held tomorrow, although it could take weeks for the opaque coalitionbuilding process to resolve who will be prime minister.
During these past five years, there have been so many things that China was involved in DANIEL SUIDANI, POLITICIAN