Tag: Solomons

Australia pushes Solomons to rely on Pacific nations for security

SYDNEY, June 26, 2024 (AFP) – Australia urged Solomon Islands to rely on fellow Pacific nations for security assistance Wednesday during a visit by China-friendly Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele. The Solomons leader was visiting Australia as part of a three-nation tour that will also take him to China and Japan. It is Manele’s first official international trip since he replaced enthusiastic Beijing supporter Manasseh Sogavare as prime minister in May. Sogavare switched diplomatic recognition from […]

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Australia fears China’s latest Pacific deal could stoke tensions

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia has urged China to release the details of a new policing pact with Solomon Islands, saying Beijing’s latest push for influence threatens to inflame tensions in the South Pacific. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare inked a raft of deals during a trip to Beijing this week, including an agreement allowing China to maintain a police presence in the developing Pacific nation until 2025. China has lavished attention on Solomon […]

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DEVELOPING STORY: Power out, as strong 7.0 quake hits Solomon Islands

Honiara, Solomon Islands | AFP | A strong 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Solomon Islands on Tuesday, with eyewitnesses reporting violent shaking that hurled items to the ground and knocked out power in parts of the capital Honiara. “This was a big one,” Joy Nisha, a receptionist with the Heritage Park Hotel in the capital Honiara, told AFP. “Some of the things in the hotel fell. Everyone seems OK, but panicky.” An AFP reporter in […]

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URGENT: Strong 7.0 quake hits Solomon Islands

Honiara, Solomon Islands | AFP | A strong 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Solomon Islands on Tuesday, with eyewitnesses reporting violent shaking that hurled televisions and other items to the ground. A tsunami warning was issued for an area of the Solomons coast within 300 kilometres (185 miles) of the epicentre. “This was a big one,” Joy Nisha, a receptionist with the Heritage Park Hotel in the capital Honiara, told AFP. “Some of the things […]

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Solomon Islands suspends all naval visits

Honiara, Solomon Islands (AFP) Solomon Islands has suspended visits from all foreign navies, citing a need to review approval processes, the country’s leader said Tuesday, after a US coast guard was unable to refuel at its port. The decision comes amid concerns over the Solomons’ growing ties with China in recent years, switching diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 2019 and signing a security pact with the Asian power in April. Western governments are […]

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High-level US delegation heads to Solomons to mark WWII amid China moves

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A high-level US delegation will travel to the Solomon Islands to mark the 80th anniversary of the World War II Battle of Guadalcanal, months after the country signed a controversial security pact with China, the State Department announced Monday. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and other senior diplomats and military leaders will visit the islands’ capital Honiara from August 6-8 and attend memorial events organized with Japan, now a […]

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Western powers sound alarm on China plan for South Pacific

Western powers sounded the alarm Thursday over leaked plans to dramatically expand China’s security and economic reach in the South Pacific, in what one regional leader called a thinly veiled effort to lock island states into “Beijing’s orbit”. If approved by Pacific island nations, the wide-ranging draft agreement and a five-year plan, both obtained by AFP, would give China a larger security footprint in a region seen as crucial to the interests of the United […]

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Solomons PM dismisses concerns over China maritime deal

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (AFP) —  The Solomon Islands’ prime minister dismissed criticism of a new maritime investment deal with China on Wednesday, saying there was nothing “sinister” in the draft agreement. The new agreement, a copy of which has been leaked to the media, comes after a controversial security pact was signed last month. The pact sparked alarm in Australia and the United States, which feared it could lead to Beijing securing a military foothold […]

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Chinese troops in Solomons ‘likely’: Australian minister

  SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — China is “very likely” to put troops in the Solomon Islands after signing a contentious security deal with the Pacific nation, Australia’s home affairs minister said Wednesday. The deal was announced by Beijing last Tuesday, just weeks after a draft version leaked on social media and sparked concern it could open the door to a Chinese military presence in the South Pacific. Asked how realistic it was that China would […]

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Several buildings ablaze in Solomon Islands’ capital riots

HONIARA, Solomon Islands  (AFP) — Several buildings were set alight in the Solomon Islands’ capital Honiara Thursday as thousands of protestors swarmed the city’s Chinatown district in a second day of anti-government riots. Eyewitnesses and local media reported crowds had defied a government lockdown to take to the streets. Live images showed several buildings engulfed in flames and plumes of thick black smoke billowing high above the capital. © Agence France-Presse

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Briton, Australian killed clearing WWII bomb in Solomons

  HONIARA, Solomon Islands (AFP) — Two bomb disposal experts from Britain and Australia died in the Solomon Islands when World War II ordnance they were helping to clear exploded, officials said Monday. Police said the pair — who worked for the charity Norwegian People’s Aid — were storing munitions without permission in a residential area of the capital Honiara when the blast occurred on Sunday afternoon. Norwegian People’s Aid named the pair as Briton […]

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