Divided Isles: Solomon Islands and the China Switch

In 2019, the Solomon Islands switched from recognizing Taiwan to formally acknowledging the People’s Republic of China, alarming Western capitals because of the archipelago nation’s strategic location in the western Pacific. But observers who viewed the reversal as the straightforward exchange of a poorer patron for a richer one were mistaken. The change of foreign partners was part of a dizzying series of turns in the country’s fissiparous domestic politics. It took place amid public anger at corruption, with the blame routinely assigned to all ethnic Chinese without distinction as to their background; maneuvering among the Solomons’ many ephemeral political parties; the resistance of Manasseh Sogavare, a four-time prime minister, to long-standing Australian influence; and Sogavare’s rivalry with Daniel Suidani, the premier of the populous but neglected and independence-minded Malaita Province. Residents of the province staged violent protests against China in the national capital, Honiara, in 2021. In 2022, Sogavare signed a security pact with China despite opposition from Australia. Suidani cultivated ties with Taiwan until his ouster from office in 2023. Even in small countries, relations with China are never just about China.