China-Solomon Islands relations

The deal was likely China's response to AUKUS. Now Australia and the U.S. will consider how to respond, possibly intensifying the security competition in the Pacific.

The security pact is set to ratchet up the strategic tensions both in the Solomon Islands and in the wider Indo-Pacific.

A draft security deal raised alarm in Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare is trying to assuage those concerns.

The Ardern government’s response seems to be calculated to show unity with Australia on China policy.

The Solomons is a tinderbox of complex ethnic tensions, corruption, and competing local interests, meaning interference from Beijing or Taipei can have disastrous consequences.

The problem was sparked by perceived CCP interference. It can’t be solved by Australia taking a similarly heavy hand.

The protests began on Wednesday, when hundreds of protestors marched on the parliamentary precinct in the capital Honiara.

Resentment against Chinese business people is longstanding and has fueled violence in Honiara’s Chinatown.

Sogavare’s decision to switch diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China is among the reasons for the current unrest in Solomon Islands.

The question of recognizing China vs. Taiwan has been weaponized in a long-standing dispute between Malaita and the central Solomon Islands government.

A closer look at the significance of a key diplomatic switch.

A closer look at the logic put forth by the Solomon Islands’ task force which examined the choice between Taiwan and China.