Controversy over the China-Solomon Islands deal

 In Context

Recently leaked document has revealed that the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific has reached a deal with China which outlines an unprecedented level of security cooperation. 

• This is the first deal of its kind for Beijing in the region. 

What are the contents of the proposed deal and why are they controversial?

About the deal 

• The document titled ‘Framework Agreement between the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of Solomon Islands on Security Cooperation’ was leaked through social media. 
• It created a huge controversy domestically as well as internationally because it has the potential to disturb the established security mechanisms in the South Pacific region. 
• The document explicitly enables Beijing to send its “police, armed police, military personnel and other law enforcement and armed forces” to the islands on the latter government’s request, or if the former sees that the safety of its projects and personnel in the islands are at risk.
• The document also provides for China’s naval vessels to utilise the islands for logistics support. 
• There have been speculations in the wake of this revelation that China might be building its next overseas naval base in Solomon Islands after Djibouti, which was also incidentally referred to as a logistics support base.

Reasons for the Solomon Islands’ increasing proximity to China

• Solomon Islands’ inability to manage domestic ethnic conflicts led to close security relations with Australia, which is the traditional first responder to any crisis in the South Pacific. 
• The Solomon Islands had cultivated strong ties with Taiwan, which ended with the emergence of the current government in Honiara.
• In 2019, the new government headed by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare switched Taiwan for China. 
  • This was supposedly after Beijing offered half a billion U.S. dollars in financial aid, roughly five times what Taiwan spent on the islands in the past two decades.

• The switching of diplomatic relations along with the general dissatisfaction with the government, led to widespread Opposition protests and riots in Honiara in November 2021.
  • The government has also notably mentioned that the move is aimed at diversification of its security partnerships, taking aim at its longstanding security dependence on Australia.

Why is China interested in the Solomon Islands?

• Competition
  • The Pacific islands are among the few regions in the world where China has competition from Taiwan for diplomatic recognition. 
    • China considers Taiwan to be a renegade territory awaiting reunification, and opposes its recognition as an independent state on the international stage. 
    • Hence, any country which has to officially establish relations with China will have to break diplomatic ties with Taiwan. 
      • The Solomon Islands was one among the six Pacific island states which had official bilateral relations with Taiwan. 
    • However, in 2019, the Solomon Islands, along with Kiribati, switched allegiance to China. 
    • This has left only four regional countries backing Taiwan, mostly belonging to the Micronesian group of islands which are under the control of the U.S.. 
• Vote banks
  • The small Pacific island states act as potential vote banks for mobilising support for the great powers in international fora like the United Nations.
• Large maritime Exclusive Economic Zones 
  • These states have disproportionately large maritime Exclusive Economic Zones when compared to their small sizes, the reason why these ‘small island states’ are also seen as ‘big ocean states’. 
• Reserves 
  • Solomon Islands, in particular, have significant reserves of timber and mineral resources, along with fisheries. 
• Strategically 
  • But more importantly, they are strategically located for China to insert itself between America’s military bases in the Pacific islands and Australia.
    • This is especially significant in the current scenario, given the emergence of the AUKUS (Australia, the U.K. and the U.S.) which seeks to elevate Australia’s strategic capabilities vis-à-vis China through Anglo-American cooperation. 

What does this mean for the established geopolitical configuration in the region?

• The Pacific islands, in the post-World War II scenario, were exclusively under the spheres of influence of the Western powers, in particular the U.S., U.K,France and the regional heavyweights, Australia and New Zealand.
  • All of them have territorial possessions in the region, with the three nuclear powers among them having used the region as a nuclear weapons testing ground. 
• The smaller island nations of the region are heavily dependent on them, especially Australia as it is a resident power. 
• This established power structure in the region is being increasingly challenged by China through the steady displacement of Taiwan and the cultivation of economic and political clout. 
• Its proposed deal with the Solomon Islands has added a security dimension to its fast-growing profile in the region. 
  • Australia has reacted with boosted finances, and by extending its current security mission till 2023 when the islands will host the Pacific Games.
  • The U.S. has responded by considering reopening its embassy in Honiara after a long 29-year gap. 
  • New Zealand has shed its typical restraint about China and has criticised it for attempting to militarise the Pacific islands.
• However, it is to be noted that China’s rise in the South Pacific is not without opposition. 
• AUKUS is a recent example of how the established powers are reacting; although, to what extent they can mobilise individual governments against China is questionable.
•  Significant discontent has been brewing within and among the Pacific island states against China’s economic inroads and its adverse impact on their vulnerable economic and political systems. 
• The geopolitics of the region is undergoing an unprecedented flux in tandem with the larger shifts in the Indo-Pacific, suggesting an intensification of regional great power rivalry and domestic volatility for the Pacific island states in the coming years.

Conclusion 

• Dismissing the prospects for any foreign military base, the government of Solomon Islands affirmed the finalisation of the draft of such a deal. 
• The deal is not yet signed and it is not fully known whether the provisions mentioned in the leaked document are present in the final draft.

Source:TH