Behind the visit is a struggle for influence

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare will visit China next week, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin.

Thủ tướng quần đảo Solomon Manasseh Sogavare sẽ thăm Trung Quốc từ ngày 9-15/7 tới. (Nguồn: AP)

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare will visit China from July 9-15. (Source: AP)

During his visit from July 9-15, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare will meet top officials in Beijing and visit Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces – among China's most developed provinces.

Spokesman Wang Wenbin said the Solomon Islands Prime Minister's visit would "inject new momentum" into relations and "deepen mutual political trust, expand substantive cooperation and enhance people-to-people exchanges."

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, according to Mr. Wang Wenbin, relations between China and the Solomon Islands have “developed rapidly and achieved fruitful results, bringing benefits to the people of both countries and promoting peace and stable development in the region.”

According to the ABC newspaper (Australia), Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's visit to China highlights the growing competition for influence between Beijing and Washington in the South Pacific.

The Solomon Islands’ decision to cut ties with Taiwan and establish relations with China and sign a security treaty that could allow Chinese forces to be stationed on the island nation has raised alarm bells in the United States and neighboring Australia and New Zealand.

However, China's efforts to forge closer partnerships with other island nations in the region have largely failed.

During a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Alabanese in October 2022, Prime Minister Sogavare reaffirmed his country's stance of "never" allowing its territory to "become a foreign military base because this is not in the interests of the Solomon Islands and its people."

The Solomon leader also stressed that the government's legacy is "to protect the future of the Solomon Islands and its people, without endangering the country and its people or the security of any Pacific Islands Forum country".

The Biden administration is now moving forward with plans to reopen the US Embassy in the Solomon Islands in an effort to counter China's influence.

The US has sent several high-level delegations to the region and the first summit between the US and Pacific island nations took place in Washington DC at the end of September. The White House boss announced a new strategy for the region that includes pressing issues such as climate change, maritime security and protecting the region from overfishing.

President Biden pledged that the US would provide $810 million in new aid to Pacific island nations over the next decade, including $130 million to address the impacts of climate change.

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