The Solomon Islands on Thursday said that a deal signed by one of its provinces to lease the entire island of Tulagi to a Chinese company is unlawful and should be terminated.
Details of the controversial long-term lease between the Solomon Islands’ Central Province and China Sam Enterprise Group Co (中國森田企業集團) were made public shortly after the Pacific nation switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to Beijing last month. The shift in allegiance sparked a strong rebuke from the US.
Solomon Islands Attorney General John Muria said that the province and Chinese company were not legally able to strike such an agreement without government involvement.
“The agreement was not vetted by the attorney general’s chambers before signing,” Muria said in a statement.
The agreement was “unlawful, unenforceable and must be terminated with immediate effect,” Muria said.
The agreement, dated Sept. 22, purportedly offers wide-ranging powers to the Chinese conglomerate to develop infrastructure on Tulagi and surrounding islands.
Headquartered in Beijing, China Sam Enterprise Group is a technology, investment and energy conglomerate founded in 1985 as a state-owned enterprise.
It yesterday declined to make available executives who could speak to reporters.
In a statement on its Web site, the firm said that its representatives had met Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare early this month during a state visit to China by a delegation from the Pacific island nation.
Tulagi hosted US bases in World War II and is where the Solomon Islands former capital city was located before it was moved to the island of Guadalcanal.
A signatory to the agreement, Central Province Premier Stanley Manetiva told reporters that he would abide by the government’s advice.
“We have to comply to follow the right procedures,” Manetiva said.
Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) said that she had “no understanding” of the issue.
However, China has consistently called on Chinese companies operating abroad to follow local laws, she added.
China’s interests in the Solomon Islands have sparked criticism from Taiwan and the US, which have said that Beijing will saddle the island nation with unsustainable debt.
Yao Ming (姚明), deputy chief of mission at China’s embassy in Papua New Guinea, on Wednesday told a briefing in the Solomon Islands capital, Honiara, that China would build some infrastructure, including a sports stadium, as a “state gift.”
The US and Britain were historically responsible for putting countries into financial distress, he said.
“China is not a country to make so-called debt traps,” Yao told local reporters. “You can see which country has been embroiled in debt traps... Not China, but United States and Britain.”
China would also support Huawei Technologies Co (華為) to build more infrastructure in the Solomon Islands, Yao said.
Australia, a strong regional ally to the US, has previously limited Huawei’s expansion in the archipelago.
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
RSS