Sogavare kowtows to Beijing

Any doubt about the speed at which Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare is opening the door to Chinese Communist Party influence has ended with his kowtowing visit to Beijing. The Solomons Star reports a video of Mr Sogavare arriving in the Chinese capital showed him telling Chinese officials “I am back home”, a remark the newspaper reported had “triggered a lot of criticism”. Opposition Leader Matthew Wale expressed outrage at the “undiplomatic and shameful” statement.

Welcomed by Chinese ruler Xi Jinping on Monday, Mr Sogavare fawned: “Solomon Islands, sir, has a lot to learn from China’s development experience.” He then signed nine new secret agreements with Beijing that reportedly doubled down on the bilateral security pact signed in March last year that was seen to presage Beijing establishing a Chinese military base in the Solomons. The new agreements focus largely on policing, including Chinese training in police methods in Honiara as part of a “strategic upgrade” between the expansionist Chinese giant and the remote South Pacific minnow. Mr Sogavare’s opening of a new embassy in Beijing on Tuesday was no less a showcase for his status as an eager supplicant to Chinese ambitions in the South Pacific. Top CCP officials turned out to celebrate and join him in cutting a cake. He declared the Solomons had “not looked back” since it abandoned recognition of Taiwan and replaced it with China four years ago. Bilateral co-operation had gone “from strength to strength”, highlighting “we have joined the Belt and Road Initiative”.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has called on the Solomons and China to publish the terms of the new agreements immediately. She was right to do so. In his genuflecting in Beijing, Mr Sogavare appears to have exceeded the most servile standards set by craven foreign rulers. Solomon Islanders and others in the region have a right to know what the deals portend for our shared security. Mr Wale had good reason to describe Mr Sogavare’s performance as embarrassing. But it was also worrying, suggesting great naivety (or deceit) about the consequences of opening the door to China. Countries such as Sri Lanka that are in dire straits after falling for the Belt & Road debt trap could tell Mr Sogavare about potential pitfalls. The entire region will pay a price if Mr Sogavare prioritises the interests of Beijing over those of the Solomons.