Solomon’s Split on Taiwan, CCP Amplified as Key Opposition MP Visits Island

Solomon Islands' newly elected Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele speaks during a press conference outside Parliament House in Honiara on May 2, 2024. (ALARICS FUGUI/AFP via Getty Images)

The pro-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Solomon Islands government has harshly criticised a leading opposition MP for visiting Taiwan, which it no longer formerly recognises after pivoting towards Beijing in 2019.

The decision has been the subject of ongoing dissent since, with the election in April this year being fought almost solely on the issue.

When incumbent Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare unexpectedly lost, multiple parties scrambled to form a coalition to take power.

Sogavare’s main opponent, Peter Kenilorea Jr., campaigned on restoring ties with Taiwan but ultimately lost to a former Minister in the Sogavare government and pro-CCP MP, Jeremiah Manele, who formed the Government of National Unity and Transformation (GNUT).

Kenilorea Jr. has remained in Parliament, however, and is seen as the leader of the 11 Independent MPs—a significant faction in Solomon’s 50-seat parliament.

His recent attendance at the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) in Taipei drew a scathing rebuke from the GNUT, which said it “violates the one-China principle” and was “an attempt to harm the Solomon Islands and the People’s Republic of China relations.”

It claimed Kenilorea Jr. had committed the Solomons to being “a member of the anti-China alliance,” something it strongly rejected.

“Calls for resumption of relations with Taiwan, China [by the MP] is regrettable and disappointing,” the government statement said. “The government and people of the Solomon Islands distance ourselves from such divisive posture of interfering into an internal affair of another state.”

Government Forbids Contact With Taiwan

Manele has previously said that no one holding public office or government official is to “visit, engage or make any commitment to” Taiwan.

Solomon Islands independent MP Peter Kenilorea Junior. (Solomon Islands Parliament)

Observers noted that much of the language in the press release mirrored that frequently used by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Kenilorea Jr. responded by pointing out that he had attended the IPAC in a personal capacity and calling the government’s statement “misleading.”

“I find it regrettable that the government would even release a statement that my participation at a summit of like-minded MPs and Senators from some 24 countries, is seeking to harm Solomon Islands and the People’s Republic of China (PRC),” the MP said.

He pointed out that members of IPAC are all from democratic countries who share common concerns, “including those on the continuous rhetoric of possible Taiwan Strait conflict that would come at a huge cost, both financially and human, for Solomon Islands, the Asia-Pacific region, and the world.

“Instead of harming [the] Solomon Islands, the summit looked at ways that we as concerned MPs of the IPAC network can continue to spread the message in our respective Parliaments about [the] perils any unilateral change to the Taiwan Strait relations could bring,” he added.

IPAC has previously held summits in Italy, the United States, and the Czech Republic, but Beijing saw its meeting in Taiwan as a provocation.

“I heard that a number of my IPAC member colleagues were pressured by the PRC Embassies in their countries not to attend the summit,” Kenilorea Jr. alleged. “I heard from these same colleagues face to face that such attempts to pressure and coerce them had resulted in strengthening their resolve to attend.

“It is truly regrettable and very concerning to read these sentiments that are aimed to restrict freedom of movement, expression, and conscience of our nation’s citizens, let alone a Member of Parliament,” he said.