3 dead in Solomon Islands after protests
CANBERRA, Australia – Solomon Islands police found three bodies in a burned-out building and arrested more than 100 people in last week’s violence sparked by concerns about the Pacific nation’s increasing links with China.
Australian media reported the bodies were recovered late Friday after riots and protests subsided. No other details were given.
Authorities imposed a curfew in the capital Honiara, after a 36-hour lockdown ordered by the embattled Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare ended Friday.
Sogavare blamed outside interference for stirring up the protests calling for his resignation.
Sogavare has been widely criticized by leaders of the country’s most populous island of Malaita for a 2019 decision to drop diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of mainland China. Beijing claims the self-ruled island of Taiwan as part of its territory.
The Solomon Islands, with a population of about 700,000, are about 1,000 miles northeast of Australia.
They are best known for the bloody fighting that took place there during World War II between the United States and Japan.
Riots and looting targeting Hoinara’s Chinatown and downtown precincts erupted Wednesday out of a peaceful protest in the capital by people from Malaita. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the demonstrators, who set fire to the National Parliament, a police station and many other buildings.
A plane carrying Australian police and diplomats are in Honiara to help local police restore order. Up to 50 more Australian police and 43 defense force personnel were also deployed following a request by Sogavare under a bilateral treaty with Australia. The presence of an independent force seemed to help quell some of the violence.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been following the protests “with concern,” his deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.
“(Guterres) calls for an end to the violence and the protection of hard-won peacebuilding gains. He urges dialogue and ceful means to address differences,” Haq said in a statement Friday.