Solomon Islands ambassador to China John Moffat Fugui dies amid Beijing’s Covid wave

John Moffat Fugui, key to the Pacific nation’s growing ties with China, has died during Beijing’s Covid wave, stunning diplomats.

Disturbing video emerged this week of Chinese hospital wards inundated with Covid-19 patients amid a surge in cases in the country.

Solomon Islands ambassador John Moffat Fugui has died during Beijing’s Covid wave, stunning diplomats in China’s capital.

Mr Fugui, 61, whose cause of death has not been disclosed, was appointed as Solomon Islands’ first ambassador to China by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare. He took up the post in May 2021 after Covid-related travel delays.

The former politician chaired the taskforce set up by Mr Sogavare that pushed for the Pacific Island country to switch its recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 2019, a controversial decision that continues to reverberate in Solomon Islands politics.

John Moffat Fugui.

“The Embassy of Solomon Islands in Beijing … with deep sorrow informs that His Excellency John Moffat Fugui, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Solomon Islands to the People’s Republic of China, has been called to his eternal rest on 22 December 2022,” the embassy said in an official letter sent to Beijing-based diplomats.

A condolence book will be opened at Solomon Islands embassy in Beijing from Saturday to Monday.

The death of the Pacific Island country’s envoy has shocked the diplomatic community in Beijing, who like most people in China’s capital are self-quarantining as Covid surges across the country.

China’s official statistics have recorded only six deaths across the country – all in Beijing – since its dramatic unwinding of President Xi Jinping’s signature “Covid zero” policy.

Amid the spread of the virus, Beijing has changed the criteria so that most virus deaths are no longer counted. It has also adjusted its definition of a positive case, significantly reducing its official tally.

World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus this week said he was “very concerned” about the spread of the virus in China and appealed for Beijing to release more information on the severity of cases, hospital admissions and intensive care unit capacity.

Dr Tedros also urged Beijing to accelerate the vaccination of its elderly population.

“WHO is very concerned over the evolving situation in China, with increasing reports of severe disease,” Dr Tedros told a news conference in Geneva.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong visited Beijing this week and was quarantined within the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse for the entirety of her overnight stay.

Across China, crematoriums are being overwhelmed, hospital staff are exhausted and pharmacy shelves have been stripped of fever medication.

Mr Fugui was one of China’s biggest supporters in Solomon Islands political circles.

Before Honiara’s diplomatic switch, he led a delegation of Solomon Islands politicians to China, visiting Beijing, Guangzhou and other cities.

The envoy was to be a key figure in liaising with the Chinese government in the lead up to next year’s Pacific Games. Many of the venues for the sporting event have been built by Chinese contractors with significant financial support from Beijing.

In a recent interview with the Global Times, he said the decision to establish official relations with China three years ago was “a great decision in our diplomatic history”.

The Ambassador told the party state masthead that he was reading President Xi’s written works to better understand the country.

“I have read the first three volumes of ‘Xi Jinping: The Governance of China’ and I am reading the fourth volume,” Mr Fugui said.

Rejecting criticism of the switch, he said that China and his Pacific Island country were united by a shared history.

“First of all, China respects us. Solomon Islands was colonised in the past, and nations are unequal under colonial system. But when we came to China for the first time, we were respected and treated as important friends and distinguished guests.”

Many in Solomon Islands were distraught at the news of his passing.

“It is really heartbreaking to receive the news of you leaving us without notice … A great son of Fataleka. We will miss you,” wrote Wilfred Luiramo, a friend, in a condolence message.