Chinese lease of Solomon island hit

US, Taiwan say China to saddle Pacific nation with debt; local official declares deal ‘unlawful’

SYDNEY—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 deal was “unlawful, unenforceable and must be terminated” immediately, he said.

Though tiny in land mass, Pacific islands such as Tulagi have reemerged 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.

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.”

“Many nations in the Pacific have discovered far too late that Chinese use of economic and military levers to expand their influence often is detrimental to them and their people.”

The Sam Group agreement, dated Sept. 22, purportedly offers wide-ranging powers to the Chinese conglomerate to develop infrastructure on Tulagi and surrounding islands.

Based in Beijing, Sam Group is a technology, investment and energy conglomerate founded in 1985 as a state-owned enterprise.

A signatory to the agreement, Central Province Premier Stanley Manetiva, told Reuters that he would abide by the government’s advice.

“We have to comply to follow the right procedures,” Manetiva said.

Taiwan and the United States criticize China’s interests in the Solomons, saying Beijing will saddle it with unsustainable debt.

Yao Ming, deputy chief of mission at China’s embassy in Papua New Guinea, said at a briefing in the Solomons capital of Honiara on Wednesday that it would build some infrastructure, including a sports stadium, as a “state gift.”

“China is not a country to make so-called debt traps,” Yao told local journalists. “You can see which country has been embroiled in debt traps … not China but United States and Britain.”