The pro-China Solomon Islands government has reportedly “disqualified” a former provincial leader because of his defiant refusal to recognize Beijing over Taipei.
The sanction against Daniel Suidani — a local assembly member and ex-premier of the largest island, Malaita — comes at a time of growing Chinese influence in the Solomons and the wider Pacific, viewed with concern by the US and its allies in the region.
Suidani — already ousted as provincial premier in a no-confidence vote in February — has consistently refused to toe the line set by Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, who switched the island nation’s diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 2019.
Photo: AP
A letter informing Suidani last month of his disqualification from the Malaita assembly cited his “ongoing failure to recognize the ‘one China’ policy, which is a key policy of the national government,” said a government statement published by local media on Wednesday.
Suidani’s seat in the Malaita assembly should be declared vacant, it said.
The former Malaita leader plans to challenge the decision in the High Court, Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corp reported.
“We are disappointed, because the decision really does not look like a legitimate decision,” Dickson Pola, a supporter of Suidani in the Malaita assembly, told reporters.
Pola said there was overwhelming support among people in Malaita for maintaining ties with Taiwan rather than China.
Under Beijing’s “one China” principle, no country may maintain official ties with both Taipei and Beijing.
Sogavare’s switch paved the way for unlocking huge amounts of Chinese investment, but it was far from unanimously popular, particularly on Malaita, where residents had benefited from Taiwanese aid projects and maintained deep links to Taipei.
The Solomon Islands’ strengthening ties with China have also led to hand-wringing in the US, and among allies including Australia and New Zealand.
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