“Taiwan is in fact a state,” the head of the Solomon Islands Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee said on Sunday as he criticized his government’s decision to establish diplomatic relations with Beijing based on the “one China” principle.
The South Pacific nation began the process of establishing diplomatic ties with Beijing on Saturday after breaking ties with Taiwan earlier in the week.
There seems to be two main reasons that the Solomon Islands established ties with China, opposition lawmaker Peter Kenilorea Jr said in a statement.
“The first is to recognize the one China principle,” while the second is that the Solomon Islands has “national needs,” he said.
In terms of the first, the UN Charter upholds the right to self-determination, Kenilorea said.
“Taiwan is in fact a state, as we know, given the three decades of our diplomatic relations with them, as well as their own relations with the rest of the world,” he said.
Regarding the second, “we cannot deny that we have genuine development needs, but China, nor any other country, is the cure,” he said. “This responsibility to seriously address our pressing development challenges rests squarely on us.”
However, “making such a declaration on day one of our relations, that the relationship is based on needs, only cements Solomon Islands’ already vulnerable position going into the relationship,” he said.
“It also sounds desperate,” he said.
An expectation expressed by a weaker partner in such a relationship that the more powerful partner will address its needs must be carefully managed, “as it could easily lead to situations where the weaker partner is exposed to abuse by the more powerful one,” he said.
The statement came after Solomon Islands Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeremiah Manele and Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) signed a joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations in Beijing.
Manele said in a statement on Wednesday that the Solomon Islands recognized the “one China” policy and its decision was in compliance with UN Resolution 2758 and done within the spirit and purpose of the UN Charter.
Kenilorea was elected as a first-time member of parliament this year. He has also served as permanent secretary of the country’s foreign ministry.
His father, Peter Kenilorea, helped lead the country to independence from Britain in 1978 and served as its first prime minister from 1978 to 1981.
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