The biggest multinational troop deployment in the South Pacific since World War II has broken the reign of gangsters and warlords in the Solomon Islands and has given the country a chance to begin cleaning up rampant corruption, its foreign minister said.
Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Laurie Chan told the General Assembly on Wednesday that since the regional mission was launched in July, "security in terms of law and order has been re-established and the government's finances are beginning to stabilize."
In a General Assembly session dominated by denunciations of the US-led invasion of Iraq without UN approval, the Pacific coalition deployment in the Solomons stood out as a model of regional cooperation at the invitation of the government of that crime-ridden island.
The Australian government, which faced opposition at home for its participation in the US-led war in Iraq, also was in charge of the move to crush militias and warlords in the Solomons.
The move was a change in regional policy for Australia, which for decades had stringently avoided any overt military action in its region, fearing it would be labeled a neocolonial power.
But Australian Prime Minister John Howard's government felt the Solomons situation posed too great a danger, and he acted at the invitation of the Solomons' government and with the blessing of all governments in the region.
A 2,300-member Australian-led intervention force was sent to the troubled nation after the Solomons' government pleaded for help to end ethnic violence and ease its economic collapse following a coup in 2000. New Zealand and some other Pacific islands also have contributed police, troops and civilian experts to the force.
Australia and New Zealand have voiced fears that impoverished Pacific nations like the Solomons could become havens for terrorists and international criminals.
Several warlords and militant leaders, notably Harold Keke who terrorized the Weathercoast region south of Guadalcanal, surrendered in August to the regional peace force.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese