Solomon Islands ‘locks in’ China ties with another pro-Beijing leader as bilateral security pact still rankles

On Thursday, the lawmakers picked Jeremiah Manele as their prime minister, who beat his opponent Matthew Wale in a 31-18 count. He succeeded Manasseh Sogavare, who was also seen as a staunch supporter of China.

Manele has said he will maintain the Solomons’ close ties with China, including honouring its secretive defence and security pact with Beijing despite calls by the opposition for its revocation.

Opposition parties say that the government’s focus is misaligned, citing the example of the poorly neglected health services in the Solomons with many incidents of medicine running out even as Chinese companies are building stadiums in the capital Honiara and elsewhere.

Of the 700,000 Solomon Islands residents, over 80 per cent of them live outside Honiara and do not have access to basic services such as electricity, schools and clinics.

Sogavare, who had drawn his country closer to China in recent years, narrowly won his seat in the East Choiseul constituency in a vote on Wednesday.

In a surprise move, Sogavare chose not to enter the prime minister race after his party performed poorer than expected in the general election on April 17. Instead, Sogavare formed a new coalition government and endorsed Manele as his party’s prime minister candidate.

Jon Fraenkel, a comparative politics professor at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, told This Week in Asia that Manele – who served as foreign minister in Sogavare’s government – had indicated his intention to continue with his predecessor’s pro-China policy.

“The Solomon Islands government is likely to retain the security pact with China. Chinese police are likely to remain in Honiara,” Fraenkel said.

In 2022, the Solomons signed a secretive security agreement with