Solomons say Chinese company’s lease of island ‘unlawful’

The Solomon Islands government said a deal signed by one of its provinces to lease the entire island of Tulagi to a Chinese company is unlawful and should be terminated, a move applauded by United States on Friday.

Details of the long-term lease between Solomons’ Central Province and China Sam Enterprise Group were made public shortly after the Pacific nation switched diplomatic ties to Beijing from Taiwan in September. The shift was strongly criticized by the United States.

Solomons Attorney General John Muria said the province and the Chinese company were not legally able to strike such an agreement without government involvement.

“The agreement was not vetted by the Attorney General’s chambers before signing,” Muria said in a statement.

The agreement was “unlawful, unenforceable and must be terminated with immediate effect”, Muria said.

Though tiny in land mass, Pacific islands such as Tulagi have re-emerged as a strategic priority for the world’s biggest nations, who are keen to lock-in alliances with countries that control vast swaths of resource-rich ocean between the Americas and Asia.

China, in particular, has in recent years expanded its financial and political influence in the Pacific, which had long been a diplomatic stronghold for the United Sates and its regional allies since World War Two.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper applauded the Solomons’ decision to invalidate the agreement, which he described as a “Chinese effort to lease the island of Tulagi for 75 years.”

“This is an important decision to reinforce sovereignty, transparency, and the rule of law,” Esper said in a statement.