‘Great resentment’: Solomon riots linked to China’s interference

The latest violence in the Solomon Islands has as much to do with China’s interference as it does longstanding and complex rivalries.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke to media in Parliament House Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Almost two decades ago, there was a Solomon Islands pidgin term troops of the 2nd Battalion Royal Australia Regiment were told to learn.

It was “Helpem fren”, translated literally as “help a friend” and was to be liberally used on locals to explain why more than 2000 mostly Australian-led troops were patrolling their streets.

That was in July 2003 when the ADF was called on to lead a Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) for what was expected to be a short-term restore civil order mission. It only ended in 2017.

The latest ADF and AFP will do well to learn that term again.

But they should also be armed with a clear exit strategy, Australia cannot afford another $3 billion 14-year deployment.

The optics over the past decade did not serve Australia well as it looked like an overbearing big brother not just by some in the Solomons but across other Pacific nations.

The latest violence has as much to do with China’s interference and the 2019 Honiara government decision to recognise Beijing over Taiwan as it does longstanding and complex rivalries between provinces, fuelled largely by extreme economic hardships.

China’s coercion for the Solomons to cut diplomatic recognition of Taiwan came with a $700 million promise in aid.

Taiwan had already been providing direct aid to Malaita.

The Chinatown district on fire in Honiara on Solomon Islands. Picture: JOB RONGO'AU FUOO / ZFM Radio / AFP

But there is great resentment with the Honiara capital government, not just with this decision, but perceptions wealth and opportunities are not being distributed broadly, notably not to the Malaita province, the most populous island in the archipelago. Throw in Covid-19 illness and frustrations and it’s a volatile unpredictable mix.

This is not going to be resolved just with Aussie troops.

Nobody wants a failed state in the Pacific and certainly not now with the great geopolitical uncertainty across the whole region.

But also Australia does not again want to commit to any long-term project to try and resolve what is a generation of tensions that requires civil overhaul to resolve in the long term.