Asia Pacific
Manasseh Sogavare accuses Australia of withdrawing budget support in light of the ongoing fallout from Honiara’s police pact with Beijing
China will “fill the gap” in Solomon Islands’ struggling budget after Australia and other traditional development partners suddenly withdrew millions of dollars in promised funding, the country’s prime minister claimed.
While the Albanian government immediately dismissed the claim, Manasseh Sogavare again condemned Australia and the US for their criticism of his country’s policing pact with China, saying that while Australian and other Pacific police forces are the “preferred partner,” China is a welcome additional security ally .
“The flight from China to the land forces here takes only nine hours,” he said.
The Australian government said no development funds had been withdrawn. “Australia has met its budget support commitments,” a spokesman told the Guardian.
Sogavare, a four-time prime minister with often troubled ties to Australia, gave a rare – and harrowing – press conference at Honiara airport immediately after returning from a week-long visit to China.
He said China had agreed to fix Solomon Islands’ ailing budget for this year and blamed the country’s traditional aid partners – citing Australia and New Zealand – for agreeing to cover the deficit, but then did renounce it.
The Solomon Islands deny a police deal with China poses a “threat” to Pacific security
“Some of our donor partners who committed to providing us with budget support this year have since changed their position and delayed their assistance to us, and we are struggling to fund the 2023 budget,” he said.
“This has put this country and its people in a difficult position. But I’m happy to report that the People’s Republic of China has made a real effort to provide this budget support needed for 2023.”
Sogavare said China is making contributions in health, agriculture and sports, building infrastructure and fighting climate change.
He said China “could very well be the answer to – not all, but most of our challenges” but also that Solomon Islands needed to break free from the “yoke” of foreign aid.
“I will not allow our people to live in a permanent state of dependency. We must break the yoke and shackles of dependency… It is time to empower ourselves.”
Sogavare said Solomon Islands’ traditional allies and partners should not fear Solomon Islands’ growing relationship with China or any other country.
“The Solomon Islands have no enemies, only friends. Our struggle is to evolve. We extend our hand of friendship and seek honest cooperation and partnership with all countries.”
In a statement, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said no development funds had been withdrawn: “Australia has met its budget support commitments to the Solomon Islands this year.”
“This support has been provided in numerous areas in the Solomon Islands, including health, education and elections. “We continue to discuss development and budget support needs with the Solomon Islands government,” a spokesman said.
Last year, Australia provided around US$40 million in budget support, including for health, education and post-Covid-19 recovery. Australia has also provided $25 million in election support and $16.7 million for the Pacific Games.
Sogavare’s comments, first reported by ABC, also reiterated criticism of Australia and the US over their concerns over a Solomon Islands-China police deal.
“The narrow-minded and obsessive diplomatic approach to targeting China-Solomon Islands relations — and I want to use that word — is anti-neighborhood… This is nothing more than interference by foreign states in Solomon Islands’ internal affairs,” he said.
“China has not invaded or colonized any other nation-state. Australia and the United States should not be afraid of China’s police support.”
As Sogavare prepares for the Pacific Games, political survival is the real struggle in Solomon Islands
Australian police forces led the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (Ramsi) – known as Operation Helpem Fren – after longstanding civil tensions on the archipelago’s main islands erupted in violence in 2003. The Ramsi mission, which ran until 2017, was criticized by Sogavare, who argued that it was dominated by Australia and subjugated Solomon Islands sovereignty.
Australia also deployed Defense Forces and Federal Police personnel to Honiara in 2021 to quell anti-government unrest.
But Sogavare stressed that Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific states would remain the “partners of choice” for Solomon Islands’ security and said he would seek those countries’ help first if violence erupted again.
“We have a current arrangement with Siaf (Solomon Islands Assistance Forces) with Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, but now we need to engage in dialogue with them as we firmly believe that they are our preferred partner… We have to call them first,” he said.
But Sogavare said his country now also has a “permanent arrangement” with China and if there were any delays in the arrival of other forces in the Solomon Islands, “it takes only nine hours to fly from China until the forces land here”.
“Actually, there is nothing to stop me if problems arise on the road.
“We can rely on our safety precautions. Nothing will stop this sovereign country.”
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