The Solomon Islands’ leader said on Aug. 21 that the 2023 Pacific Games projects—which are funded by Beijing—had spared the Pacific Island nation from “total economic collapse” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare made the remarks during a handover ceremony of the Pacific Games Stadium to the Solomon Islands, which was attended by Chinese Ambassador to the Solomon Islands Li Ming.
The 2023 Pacific Games are set to be held from Nov. 19 to Dec. 2 in the Solomon Islands. Beijing covered half of the event’s funding, totaling SBD$1.85 billion ($221 million), which includes stadium construction.
Mr. Sogavare said the investments brought in by the Pacific Games leveraged major infrastructure projects, such as upgrading the country’s international airport and advancing highway construction.
‘Debt Trap Diplomacy’
Mr. Li said 1,000 Solomon Islanders and 300 Chinese workers were hired to construct the main stadium. He referred to the stadium as “a symbol of the China–Solomon Islands friendship.”He called the stadium the largest project that China had built for the Pacific island region and attributed it to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
China’s BRI, which Chinese leader Xi Jinping launched in 2013, has poured billions of dollars into infrastructure projects across Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Asia.
However, the United States has repeatedly criticized the CCP for expanding its geopolitical influence through predatory lending practices. BRI projects have raised the risk of economic distress in many borrower countries, including Sri Lanka and Pakistan, because of unsustainable loan levels and opaque contracts.
Ousted Official Warns About China Deals
“People need to be aware of the way that the CCP is dealing with development in our country,” he said at an April 28 talk at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.
“They do not share our values at all.”
The Solomon Islands Foreign Affairs Ministry didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment on Mr. Suidani’s claims by press time.
Sogavare Alleges Australia, NZ Ceased Aid Funding
Since Mr. Sogavare came to power in 2019, he has undone the country’s bilateral relations with Taiwan, signed a controversial security deal with the CCP in April 2022, and secured a $66 million loan from China three months later. The move allowed Chinese telecom giant Huawei to build 161 mobile communication towers nationwide.“This has left this country and people in a predicament. But I am glad to announce and delighted to announce the People’s Republic of China has really stepped up to provide this budget support needed for 2023,” he told reporters in Honiara, Solomon Islands, on July 17.
Australian authorities have outright denied any delay in funding.