Australia is to help fund and build an underseas communications cable to the Solomon Islands, it was agreed yesterday, after the Pacific nation was convinced to drop a contract with Chinese company Huawei Technologies Co (華為).
The Solomon Islands and Huawei in late 2016 inked a deal to construct the fiber-optic cable from Australia to Honiara to improve its often unreliable Internet and telephone services.
However, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Rick Houenipwela last week said there had been a change of heart following “some concerns raised with us by Australia,” without elaborating.
Photo: AFP
The move comes with Australia refocusing its foreign aid programs to win hearts and minds in the island nations of the Pacific, as China flexes its muscle in the region.
It last month pledged more than A$1.3 billion (US$986.5 million) in its national budget to fund projects such as the communications cable, which would also link up with Papua New Guinea.
Canberra and other regional capitals have become increasingly alarmed at Beijing’s push into the Pacific through “soft diplomacy,” which could potentially upset the strategic balance in the region.
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop refused to detail what concerns Canberra had with Huawei.
“I would not elaborate on security issues, that’s not appropriate,” she told reporters. “What we have offered the Solomon Islands, and they have accepted, is an alternative to the offer, and ours is cheaper. It’s likely to be a faster result for them and technically superior.”
Huawei was blocked from bidding for contracts on Australia’s ambitious national broadband project in 2012, reportedly due to concerns about cybersecurity.
Huawei has long disputed claims of any links to the Chinese government.
Australian Secret Intelligence Service Director-General Nick Warner and other senior officials visited the Solomons last year and returned with concerns about Huawei being permitted to plug into the nation’s telecom infrastructure, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
They reportedly believed that, while Huawei was an independent company, it retained links to the Chinese government and could pose a threat to Australian infrastructure in the future.
After meeting Houenipwela in Canberra yesterday, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that his nation would also jointly fund a domestic telecom cable network linking remote provinces in the Solomons to Honiara.
“As we step up our engagement in the Pacific, we are working as partners with Solomon Islands more closely than ever to ensure stability, security and prosperity in the region,” he said.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RSS