When it comes to wielding influence in the Solomon Islands, Australia has a powerful tool that China doesn’t have.
My country’s switch in allegiance from Taiwan to China would not have caused so much uproar if the government did not agree to a. Solomon Islanders have since been bombarded with Western media views on the dangers of such an agreement.
Already prone to earthquakes, tsunamis and cyclones, we face ominous new threats because of climate change, including coral bleaching and rising sea levels that are slowly washing away islands. China’s growing presence has become impossible to miss in Honiara, the capital. Chinese-run businesses – construction, hardware, fishing, transport and other sectors – have quickly become part of the local economy since our government established diplomatic relations with Beijing in 2019.
It is important for Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to travel to Fiji next week for the Pacific Islands Forum. This is a positive step. However, no longer will Solomon Islanders be looking to bigger countries to decide what they need or want – the switch to China was the first sign of that.
Australia and New Zealand have been major donors, typically through aid programs focused on strengthening our public institutions. But as important as these efforts are, they are largely invisible to young Solomon Islanders who need jobs or vocational training in things like carpentry or masonry to address a persistent shortage of skilled labour and to put food on the table. Overall, Australian aid has fallen over the years.
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