He visited China again after four years, countries | Solomon Islands | China

On July 8th, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Menasi Sogavare departed for China and began a week-long official visit from July 9th.

The Governor of Chang'an Street noticed that this is Sogavare's second visit to China after four years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two exchanges in 2019. According to a previous announcement on the Solomon Islands government website, Sogavare's visit will unveil the Solomon Islands Embassy in China. The Solomon Islands government hopes that with the opening of the embassy in China, cooperation between the two countries will further deepen.

At a regular press conference held on the 6th, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin stated that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Solomon Islands, the relationship between the two countries has developed rapidly and achieved fruitful results, benefiting the people of both countries and promoting regional peace, stability, and development. He also emphasized that China is willing to use this visit as an opportunity to deepen political mutual trust, expand practical cooperation, strengthen cultural exchanges, and promote China Ukraine relations to a new level.

Injecting new impetus into the development of bilateral relations

In April 2019, the political party alliance led by Sogavare won a majority of seats in parliament, and he was elected as Prime Minister for the fourth time and formed a cabinet to govern.In October of that year, Sogavare made his first visit to China, opening the door for friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.

In 2019, Sogavare made his first visit to China. The Solomon Islands is an island nation located in the vast South Pacific Ocean, with a land area of 28400 square kilometers. It faces Papua New Guinea across the sea to the west and Australia to the southwest, 1600 kilometers away.

The backwardness of infrastructure and inconvenient transportation have constrained the tourism development of Solomon Islands, and the country's finances heavily rely on foreign aid.

In recent years, the Solomon Islands have been continuously exploring new development paths. The second month after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Senegal, Solomon Islands joined the initiative of jointly building the "the Belt and Road". Since then, the development of bilateral relations has been accelerated.

In August 2022, the Solomon Islands government announced the signing of an agreement with Chinese companies to build 161 communication towers nationwide for the construction of the national broadband network, and to apply for preferential loans from the Export Import Bank of China. In March of this year, the country signed a contract with a Chinese company to upgrade its international port in the Honiara region.

It is reported that in 2022, the bilateral trade volume between China and the Exchange was about 500 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 3%, of which China's export volume was 200 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 20.1%.

Two days before Sogavare's visit to China, it was the 45th anniversary of Solomon Islands' independence from Britain. In his commemorative speech, he emphasized the importance of infrastructure construction and stated that national development would be given top priority. This statement has also been implemented in specific actions. According to previous reports from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during the visit, in addition to Beijing, Prime Minister Sogavare and his delegation will also visit Jiangsu and Guangdong.

It is worth mentioning that in May this year, Guadalcanal Province and Guangdong Province of the Solomon Islands signed a settlement agreement. Previously, Jiangmen City in Guangdong Province and Honiara City, the capital of the Solomon Islands, formed the first pair of friendly cities between the two countries.

In just a few short years, it has brought about tremendous changes

"We hope to remain neutral, as choosing sides and forming alliances with groups that do not align with our interests will go against the development direction pursued by our people and country." Sogavare revealed in his commemorative speech that some countries are competing with China for influence in the region.

This is not the first time Sogavare has made a similar statement. According to Reuters, in September 2022, Sogavare said in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York that the Solomon Islands have always pursued a friendly and non hostile foreign policy towards everyone and will not choose sides under coercion.

He stated that since 2019, the Solomon Islands have suffered a "series of unfounded and erroneous criticisms, false information attacks, and intimidation." He repeatedly emphasized when discussing the establishment of diplomatic relations with China that this decision was made through a democratic process and called for respect for the sovereignty and democracy of the Solomon Islands.

However, his statement did not block the mouths of Western media. In a report on July 6th, the Associated Press interpreted Sogavare's visit to China as "an accelerating competition between Beijing and Washington for influence in the South Pacific.".

Since the official signing of the bilateral security cooperation framework agreement between China and the Exchange in April 2022, Australia has repeatedly falsely claimed that China intends to establish a naval base in the region. The normal exchanges and cooperation between China and the Soviet Union have been repeatedly used as a "threat" by the self righteous West.

Just before Sogavare's visit to China, Australian Defense Minister Mars had just met with him to discuss security issues. This is also the first time that Mars has visited the Solomon Islands since serving as the country's Minister of Defense.

Mars strongly emphasized in the statement that the partnership between Australia and the Solomon Islands is "more important than ever before.". He stated that in the future, the Australian government will respond to the needs of the Solomon Islands in the areas of employment, health, and safety. "Australia is ready to provide a sustained security presence locally," he said

And what exactly is the demand for the Solomon Islands, Australia seems to have not understood it clearly.

According to Reuters, Sogavare stated in an interview with local television that the Solomon Islands had previously relied on Australia's aid, but now the country is shifting its foreign policy and seeking opportunities to cooperate with China, India, and Gulf countries.

With a little attention, it can be observed that cooperation between China and Taiwan is concentrated in the fields of economy, trade, and national security, while countries such as the United States and Australia are attempting to control the South Pacific region by deploying military forces.

"Our people are talking about the changes that have occurred since the establishment of diplomatic relations with China every day." The first Solomon Islands Ambassador to China, Fu Guizeng, stated that the Solomon Islands have a history of more than 40 years of interaction with some Western countries, but this has not brought much benefits to the development of the Solomon Islands. The establishment of diplomatic relations with China in just a few years has brought tremendous changes to the Solomon Islands.

This winter, Solomon Islands will host the 2023 Pacific Games, marking the country's first time hosting this event, and the main sports stadium, built with Chinese assistance, has taken off.