The Asian superpower China, second-largest aid provider to the Pacific Island countries established diplomatic relations with the Solomon Islands in A country of just over half a million people, a low-income economy with more than three-fourth of its population living in small villages, is among the lesser developed countries of the South Pacific region.
Solomon Islands switched allegiance from Taipei to Beijing, terminating its year-old official relationship with Taiwan. Out of the fourteen Pacific Island states, China now has ten partners. For the Solomon Islands, the decision to switch allegiance, came from the recommendations of a task-force deployed by Prime Minister Sogavare, which indicated the past action to establish ties with Taiwan, which was economically more active than China back then was bought by money power. China assured funding for Pacific Games hosted by Solomon Islands in the form of grants and the main stadium would be a gift from Beijing.
But, the infrastructure project will not provide local employment, as Chinese companies bring their own construction workers. In the future, maintenance of such infrastructure facilities will be a great challenge for the government of Solomon Islands, as it became for Vanuatu, which had no budget to maintain the Chinese-funded national convention centre.
Clearly, China seeks supremacy over other donor countries to advance its geostrategic interests. The Solomon Islands has not yet accepted every Chinese offer on the table. But the Solomons rejected a deal that asked for the lease of Tulagi Island for 75 years.
In , the capital shifted to Honiara. The government called the deal with Sam group illegal due to a lack of vital details and ordered its termination. Perhaps, it wanted to challenge the Western world by installing a military base there.
