Today is a public holiday in South Africa – Human Rights Day. There’s a certain irony in spending the day focusing on China’s President Xi Jinping’s visit to Vladimir Putin, knee-deep in a human rights disaster.
What one makes of the Ukraine crisis increasingly maps on where one lives. This is made clear by a remarkable new set of polling data recently published by the European Council on Foreign Relations ...
Country: Solomon Islands
Why Chinese Lending to Pacific Island Countries Has Steadily Declined in Recent Years
Chinese lending to Pacific Island Countries (PICs) is now at its lowest level in 15 years, according to new data published by the Australian think tank Lowy Institute. The findings may come as a surprise, given China's heightened diplomatic and security ...
China Isn’t Spending Anywhere Near as Much on Aid to Pacific Island Countries as Many Think
New research reveals that Chinese aid spending in Pacific Island Countries (PIC) is now at the lowest level in 14 years, challenging the widely held perception that Beijing is showering the region with money in a bid to boost its influence. ...
Solomon Islands Explains It Wanted China References Stripped From U.S.-Pacific Island Countries’ Accord
The Solomon Islands caused a bit of a stir last month at a summit in Washington, D.C. when it refused to sign an initial draft of an accord between the U.S. and more than a dozen Pacific nations. Now, we know why.
Fox News Blames Biden for China in the Solomon Islands
U.S. concerns about Chinese influence in the Solomon Islands have crossed a notable rhetorical red line: it is now a talking point on Fox News. This turns it from an obscure geopolitical spat to a topic in the mainstream Republican-Democrat culture war. Fox hosted the ...
Solomon Islands PM Assures Australia It Remains “Security Partner of Choice”
Manasseh Sogavare, the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, moved to calm Australian fears about his country's new security pact with China. In an interview with The Guardian, Sogavare said there will never be a ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Xi Bets on Global South in Moscow
USAID Emails Reveal Anxiety Over China’s Solomon Islands Security Pact
Newly-released emails obtained by Al Jazeera through a Freedom of Information request highlight U.S. unease over China's recent security agreement with the Solomon Islands. "Yikes! This is very troubling," said Ryan Washburn, USAID mission director to the ...
Solomon Islands Assure Australia on Chinese Base, Leaves Some Wiggle Room
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare of the Solomon Islands assured Australia’s visiting Foreign Minister Penny Wong that China won’t be allowed to build a permanent military base there. Wong told journalists: “I welcomed Prime Minister Sogavare’s ...
China’s New Ambitions in the South Pacific
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's recent South Pacific tour put the region in play as the latest venue for Great Power political rivalries. But even though the ten Pacific Island Countries (PIC) are among the smallest in the world, they came ...