US misses golden opportunity in the Solomon Islands

Anti-government demonstrators in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, last week demanded the prime minister step down, citing his government’s alleged corruption and its ties to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). After the police fired teargas at the up until then peaceful demonstrators, chaos erupted.

An outbuilding at the parliament caught fire, a police station was attacked and mobs roamed the town. Over the next two days, much of Honiara’s Chinatown was burned and looted.  One “Chinese” shop, festooned with Taiwanese flags, was spared, however.

Americans used to know about the Solomon Islands and why they matter. The word “Guadalcanal” was enough. That’s where US Marines and Japanese forces fought a long, bloody campaign in World War II.

But the US government has barely paid attention to the Solomons for decades, even though they are as important now as they were in 1942.

The Solomon Islands are “strategic terrain” in today’s contest between the PRC and the US and its allies.  Hold the Solomons and you can isolate Australia from the US and the rest of Asia.  And you can further dominate the Southwest and South Pacific – as Beijing is attempting as part of its long-term political warfare strategy.

The Solomons have been in China’s crosshairs for a long time. In 2019, the government of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare switched the country’s formal diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the PRC.

Widespread reports and rumors claimed that Sogavare and other influential figures took Chinese cash (and orders) as part of the deal.

Other reports at the time said the Chinese planned to build a military base in the Solomons. The entire island of Tulagi was indeed under contract to a Chinese company until the Solomon Islands government canceled the deal after it was exposed and provoked public protests.