Solomon Islands election watched by US, China amid Pacific influence contest

12/4/2024 13:57

        A national election in the Solomon Islands, the first since Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare signed a security pact with Beijing, will be watched next week for its potential to jolt the U.S.-China rivalry in the South Pacific.
        
        The United States and Australia are concerned about China's naval ambitions in Pacific countries, as tensions rise over Taiwan.
        
        Despite its population of just 700,000, the Solomon Islands occupies a strategic position 1,600km northeast of Australia, strewn with World War Two wrecks that remind it was once a pivotal battlefield.
        
        Voters will be focused on hospitals struggling without medicines, education shortcomings and inadequate roads when they cast ballots on April 17, opposition party lawmakers said.
        
        But Sogavare's rapid embrace of China since he won power four years ago - including inviting Chinese police into the archipelago and switching diplomatic ties from Taiwan - is also in the spotlight.