China and Solomon Islands Married—September 2019
September 2019—Diplomatic Switch
After telling his counterpart to improve its development plans for the Solomon Islands, Sogavare returned home and declared Taiwan— “Persona Non Grata.” It was the end of a diplomatic relationship between the two governments after many decades.
After decades of fattening the pockets of SI's elected leaders, Taiwan was ordered to leave in one of the most bizarre sent-off. Within hours of the announcement, Taiwan lowered its flag, leaders bid farewell to supporters and then packed everything and left the country. Before leaving, the Taiwanese ambassador to the SI warned that China is a different animal—they don't allow its partners to use its money without hundreds of strings attached. In fact, the Taiwanese government was actually working with the Solomon Islands' governments on a “hands-off” basis; meaning, they supplied the much-needed cash for the SIG while it focused on other things. They, like any other true democracy, did not demand any returns for the funds other than having SIG on their side at the United Nations General Assembly and other international bodies and institutions. That's how things were done with the Taiwanese government. But with the Solomon Islands' buddies from Beijing, it is a difference story. They come with bags of money, but also come with an authoritarian mindset, wanting to take care of every single facet of the country; demanding more and more of the SIG's attention. The traditional diplomatic way of doing things is out the window, now it's everything to place the Chinese.
One-China Policy—a Pre-requisite to the new partnership
In his time as prime minister (2000, 2006, 2014), Hon. Sogavare berated the Unite Nations and its leadership and accused them of preventing the Taiwanese government of becoming a recognized government. For instance, in 2017, when he was still prime minister of SI, Mr. Sogavare took the opportunity, during the Republic of China (ROC) Taiwan double ten celebrations at the Mendana Hotel—an event to honour Taiwan's national day, to blast the UN of hypocrisy. He argued that the UN's “leaving no one behind” was in accurate and hypocritical, citing UN's inability to reluctance to accept Taiwan as a legitimate, independent country. He went to say that:
As a special and dear friend to us, when you look just beyond our near abroad, you would realise Solomon Islands has always been consistent with the principles of self-determination, whether in Melanesia or Polynesia. That is why in the recent UNGA in New York, I spoke passionately to advocate for Taiwan, just like previous leaders have done.
For Sogavare, advocating for the self-determination of whether Melanesian or Polynesian, was a pillar of his duty to the country. Yet, he voted in favor of Indonesia becoming a member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group—the only Melanesian organization in the world, created to help Melanesian brothers and sisters.
He added:
Our future leaders will still do the same unashamedly … that this is one principle where the two countries (SI and ROC Taiwan) interests are anchored in consistent unison, when big boys and big interests have turned a blind eye to an issue that has never been able to decouple the two countries for well over three decades.
All that aside, Mr. Sogavare in 2019 had completely eviscerated his own high moral standard. He'd thrown his support for Taiwan's sovereignty out the window and every single moral value he had left. Everything he'd said for the past two decades were ALL wrong, according to Sogavare of 2019.
In his justification for welcoming China, Mr. Sogavare pointed to that Taiwan and China are one. He basically said that the bond Taiwan and SI had for almost four decades was a built on a lie. Sogavare argued that SI was standing at the “wrong side of history" when it was standing with Taiwan. He'd completely forgotten the very speeches he delivered at the UN and every other international venues in which he chastised world leaders of not standing with Taiwan. Either he fell and hit his head on a tree and woke up to realize that standing with Taiwan was wrong, or he wanted China's FREE CASH.
Pacific Games
There's no doubt that one of the biggest motivations for the pivot to China is the upcoming Pacific Games. This is a huge event in the Pacific where Pacific nations and territories come to compete in various sports, and Solomon Islands won the bid to host it. In fact, it was Sogavare who won the bid to host the Pacific Games in hist country in 2016.
He'd defeated territories such as Tahiti, which has the backing of the French government, to host the PG in 2023. The problem, though, he had no money at the time to allocate for that event. In other words, his ambitions outweighed his budget. And just as he was about to give Taiwan his exit order, he was defeated in a 'No-Confidence Motion' in 2017 moved by his rival, Dr. Sikua, who dethroned him in 2008. Only this time, he was replaced by a former banker, who spent a few years with the World Bank in Washington, D.C, Hon. Rick Hou. For the new government, PG wasn't a priority—I mean, there was zero movement of any kind to build the country in preparation for the games. But 6 years ahead, the government had better things to do to tackle the ever-growing socioeconomic woes the country was facing. It would take another four years for Sogavare to return and carry out his plan to develop the country and put in much-needed sporting infrastructure for the games. This time, however, he would have to switch to China—giving Beijing access to the country's vast natural wealth in return, in exchange for the building and upgrading of the facilities throughout Honiara.
China is a bully
In 2013, China's president Xin Jinping launched his “Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)" often associated with the historical 'Silk Road' of the past. The Silk Road, according to History.com, was "a network of trade routes connecting China and the Far East with the Middle East and Europe,” established by the Han Dynasty in 130 BC—a very old trade route. This new, ambitious global route is dubbed the “New Silk Road,” but there's a huge difference between the Han's vision and that of Xin Jinping. In the ancient trade route, people and regions traded goods and services with each other. The new Chinese initiative, however, was created to give China access to resources of less developed countries, starting with nearby Asian countries to Europe, and the Middle East. It is a very ambitious and radical development plan, but one with a very dark motive. The whole idea is to dump money into struggling nations, move in and develop their infrastructure, creating jobs and revenue for the Chinese companies and communist party back in China. Countries who failed to pay back their massive loans, give China access to their natural resources. Many economists and governments around the world are calling this initiative a "DEATH TRAP." China has taken over an airport in Uganda—the only international airport, Sri Lanka's ain port, and in most countries China had given money, and they failed to payback, their governments gave China access to their resources. Zimbabwe was given a loan and part of it was waived, but then China wanted more. China also moved into the cash-strapped country of Djibouti, and in 2017, built a military base there.
The tales of Chinese investments in weaker developing countries is everywhere if you searched for online. Story short, China's dumped tons of money into weak, corrupt developing countries with little regard to so-called financial securities. Some, the Chinese government, or their banks, merely lowered rares on the returns or expectations of those loans and in the end trapped them with huge debt. This tactic simply weakened these countries; many of them strung up by the strings that are attached to those loans.
Sogavare and China
For those who think Sogavare doesn't understand the risks associated with China's predatory lending are apparently don't know the guy. No politician ever held the office of PM four times in SI's history. The only former prime minister with a similar record was Sogavare's mentor and personal friend, Mamaloni. And having traveled the world far and wide, he must have learned about the Chinese's Belt and Road initiative. As a degree holder in Finance, Mr. Sogavare is not oblivious to China's crooked investment practices. But the question is, why is he doing this? The answer lies in the hypothesis that the man himself is a Machiavellian politician—he doesn't care what is going on, as long as he achieved something massive to his legacy.
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