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Updated November 28th, 2021 at 12:54 IST

Solomon Islands unrest: Ex-Aus envoy blames China, says Beijing 'distorted' politics

Former Australian high commissioner to the Solomon Islands, James Batley, told a US broadcaster that 'Chinese interference' has distorted the nation's politics.

Reported by: Dipaneeta Das
China
Image: AP | Image:self
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Violence refuses to die down in the Solomon Islands even after three were killed in inter-ethnic protests against the government that erupted in the nation on Wednesday. While Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare blamed interference of "foreign powers" for encouraging unrest in the country, experts have indicated that the long-standing ethnic conflicts were fuelled by the country's diplomatic switch from Taiwan to China in 2019, successfully infuriating the majority community of the island nation's Malaita province, Voice of America reported.

Reiterating the concerns of the experts, former Australian high commissioner to the Solomon Islands, James Batley told the broadcaster that the "Chinese interference" has distorted the way of politics in the Solomon Islands.

"It's not the foreign policy per se but I think this diplomatic switch has fed into those pre-existing grievances and in the particular sense that the Chinese have interfered in politics in the Solomon Islands, that Chinese money has somehow fostered corruption, has distorted the way politics works in the Solomon Islands," Batley told VOA news.

On Saturday, Australian peacekeepers were deployed at the request of Prime Minister Sogavare to curb massive violence, launched by furious anti-government protestors, who defied lockdown protocols on the island. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators from Malaita after they set fire to the National Parliament and many other buildings in Honiara, AP reported. What began as a peaceful protest was marred by violence and looting of public and private properties.

What caused unrest in Solomon Islands?

The protests came after citizens, mainly from Honiara’s Chinatown and Malaita, demanded the resignation of Solomon Island PM Manasseh Sogavare over lack of services, corruption and Chinese businesses offering jobs to foreigners rather than natives.

Ethnic tensions between Guadalcanal and Malaita fuelled since late 1990 after natives of the Guadalcanal launched the campaign of violence and intimidation to drive the Malaitians off the island. In retaliation, Malaita formed a militia named Malaita Eagle Force to protect them in the conflict.

This led the government to declare a four-month state of emergency in 1999, AP reported. Ethnically divided law and order forced Guadalcanal to collapse. Later in 2000, the Malaitian militia kidnapped then PM Bartholomew Ulufa'alu, a Malaitian, accusing him of 'not doing enough' for the community. He resigned in exchange for freedom and Sogavare began his first of four stints as an 'unstable' leader.

IMAGE: AP

(People walk through the looted streets of Chinatown in Honiara, Solomon Islands. Image: AP)

China's involvement in Solomon Islands

At least 27 lawmakers of the Solomon Island voted in favour of switching allegiance to China from Taiwan in 2019, which successfully infuriated the majority Malaitan community. Additionally, critics have also blamed Chinese companies in the Solomon Islands for giving jobs to foreigners rather than locals. Speaking to AP, a local journalist, Gina Kekea, highlighted that the foreign policy switch to Beijing was done with "little public consultation" and was one of a myriad of issues that led to the current protests. "There were also complaints that foreign companies were not providing local jobs," Kekea said.

Meanwhile, the issues woven from "abject poverty" and limited economic development have remained warm for decades between Honiara's Chinatown and its downtown precinct, Jonathan Pryke (Director of the Sydney-based Lowy Institute think tank's Pacific Islands program) told AP.

(With inputs from AP, Image: AP)

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Published November 28th, 2021 at 12:54 IST

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