New riots broke out in the Solomon Islands on Thursday, prompting Australia to announce it would develop a peacekeeping force there amid a dispute between Taiwan and China, which is “concerned” about its interests in the Pacific archipelago.
The Solomon Islands, which have had diplomatic relations with Taiwan since 1983, decided in 2019 to suspend them and recognize China.
The Asian giant, which considers Taiwan its province despite not controlling the island of 23 million people, sets this condition to enter into diplomatic relations with other countries.
The decision of the government of the Solomon Islands, however, provoked a strong reaction from a large part of the population, which had acquired close relations with Taipei.
Hundreds of people rallied on Wednesday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Manasa Sogavare before occupying the Chinese district of Honiara, where a police station was set on fire and shops were looted. Police intervened with extensive use of tear gas.
Following the riots, a traffic ban was announced. But, defying it, protesters took to the streets again yesterday, Thursday. Local media reported on looting and new widespread use of tear gas by the police, following an attempt to invade parliament.
An eyewitness told the French Agency that he saw police installing bars and roadblocks in front of the Parliament.
On Thursday night, hundreds of rioters, in defiance of the curfew, set fire to several buildings and looted others. Columns of dense black smoke rose in the sky.
Banks, schools, police stations, Chinese-owned shops were among the targets of the arson.
Beijing “concern”
Chinese diplomacy has expressed “grave concern” over its interests in the Solomon Islands.
“We urge the Solomon Islands government to take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of Chinese citizens and Chinese entities,” Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told reporters.
Prime Minister Manasa Sogavare, who on Wednesday denounced the “sad and unfortunate” attempt to “overthrow the democratically elected government”, assured yesterday that he would remain in power.
Protesters from the neighboring island of Maleita took part in the violent protests against the decision to stop recognizing Taiwan and establishing diplomatic relations with China.
Maleita provincial leader Daniel Swintani has repeatedly accused the prime minister of being a Beijing man, saying he chooses to “put foreign interests above those of the people of Solomon Islands”.
“People are not blind, they do not want to be played anymore,” he added.
Australia, the largest neighbor of the Solomon Islands, 1,500 kilometers away, will deploy a peacekeeping mission, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Thursday. “Our goal is to guarantee stability and security,” he said, adding that he had received a request from his counterpart for assistance.
The Minister of the Interior of Australia, Karen Andrews, clarified that 23 members of the Australian Federal Police have already been deployed (…), they are already on the field in Honiara. Others will grow today, about 50 “.
“The situation is very unstable (…). At the moment, we know that the riots have escalated in the last two days “, he added and noted that police and military will guard, among others, the airport and the ports in Honiara.
According to the minister, the development of Australia’s power will last only “a few weeks”, in contrast to the peacekeeping mission that lasted from 2003 to 2017 and cost around 2.2 billion Australian dollars (almost 2 billion euros) .
“Our primary goal is to restore law and order, we are certainly not going to interfere in the political affairs that are unfolding at the moment,” Ms. Andrews added.
Violent inter-ethnic violence erupted in the Pacific archipelago, which gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1978, in the early 2000s. Tensions led to the development of an international peacekeeping force under Australian rule.
Riots broke out in the Chinese district of the capital, especially during the 2006 parliamentary elections, after rumors circulated that companies affiliated with Beijing had contributed to fraud.
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