Australia Speeds up Solomon Islands Project Amid Expanding Beijing Influence

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, right, locks arms with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Honiara, Solomon Islands, on May 26, 2022. Xinhua via AP

Following the U.S. decision to open an embassy in the Solomon Islands, Australia is speeding up the construction of a logistics centre and other projects to compete with Beijing for influence in the key strategic South Pacific nation.

After cutting its 36-year-old diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 2019, Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, welcomed a sprawling embassy built by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2020

While the communist regime is expanding in the Solomon Islands in the name of infrastructure and economic development, democratic countries like Australia and the United States are also moving to expand their clout in the South Pacific region.

Key infrastructure projects in Honiara include a four-year A$120 million Program Support Facility that will handle procurement, infrastructure delivery and other related matters, The Australian reported.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has leased a new plot of land in Honiara to build eight properties for Australian diplomats and their families and is inviting tenders for the construction.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets with the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare in Canberra, Australia on Oct. 6, 2022. Martin Ollman/Getty Images

“DFAT have acquired land in Honiara to construct a multi­storey building for the AHC,” the tender documents obtained by The Australian read.

“The intention is that the new building would be constructed using a prefabricated modular ­approach to overcome risks associated with delivering large construction projects in foreign and remote locations.”

“It is envisaged the solution will be a mixture of traditional and prefabricated methodologies due to the size and complexity of the proposed building.”

DFAT also launched a A$30 million process this month to revamp the Strongim Bisnis bilateral private sector development initiative, which was founded in 2017 to boost the Solomon Islands economy.

Map of Australia's immediate neighbours in the western Pacific Ocean. College of Asia and the Pacific/ANU/CartoGIS Services [CC BY-SA 4.0]

The Solomon Islands’ economy shrank by 4.5 percent in 2022, making it one of 31 countries in the world considered to be seriously off track from sustainable development goals.

U.S. to Rebuild Embassy in the Solomon Islands

The U.S. Department of State informed Congress this month that it planned to establish an interim embassy in Honiara, the capital of the island country on the site of its former consular property.

The U.S. embassy in Honiara was closed in 1993 as part of a post-Cold War global reduction in diplomatic posts and priorities.

However, it has since been determined that the CCP’s rise as a regional and global power demands attention as part of the United States Indo-Pacific strategy to counter Beijing, particularly in the Solomon Islands, which were a key battleground in the Pacific theatre during World War II, and where pro-U.S. sentiment has been high.

The Solomon Islands Parliament House in Honiara, Guadalcanal Island, on Nov. 25, 2019. Victoria Jones/Getty Images

“We are seeing this bond [formed during World War II] weaken as the People’s Republic of China aggressively seeks to engage Solomon Islands’ political and business elites, utilizing a familiar pattern of extravagant promises, prospective costly infrastructure loans and potentially dangerous debt levels,” the department said in a notice to Congress on Dec. 23.

“The United States needs a permanent diplomatic presence in Honiara to effectively provide a counterweight to growing [CCP] influence and deepen our engagement with the region commensurate with its importance,” it said.

“Before [China] becomes strongly embedded in the Solomon Islands, now is the opportunity to bolster Solomon Islands’ resilience and deepen cooperation on security, democratic governance, and a free and open economy.”

AP contributed to this report.