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The Solomon Islands announced on Thursday that it had obtained a $66 million loan from China to pay for the construction of 161 telecommunications towers by tech giant Huawei around the Pacific region.
The agreement represents the first funding the island nation has gotten from Beijing since the two sides struck a covert security accord in April after cutting diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
The pact, according to the Solomon Islands’ administration, is the result of the restoration of diplomatic ties with Beijing in 2019.
But the United States and its allies are concerned about the Solomon Islands’ expanding financial and security ties to China. The security agreement could be used by China to establish a military facility there, according to Western authorities; however, the Pacific nation’s prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, has repeatedly rejected this.
According to the agreement, the Solomon Islands will receive a 20-year concessional loan from the Export-Import Bank of China, which is affiliated with the Chinese government and will fully fund Huawei’s tower construction.
According to the government’s announcement, about half of the towers would be constructed before the nation hosts the Pacific Island Games in November 2023.
According to the administration, the towers will enable Solomon Islanders, particularly those in rural areas, to watch the games even if they are unable to travel to the capital Honiara.
Sogavare suggested earlier this month that the country’s constitution be changed to postpone the national elections until after the games since the government could not afford to host both events.
Opposition leader Matthew Wale called Sogavare’s remarks a “lame excuse” and claimed that any postponement of voting would be a “abuse of the people’s freedom to express their vote.”
The country’s upcoming election, which is scheduled to take place before September 2023, will be the first to be held since major unrest caused by anti-Sogavare rallies erupted in Honiara last year.
Additionally, it would be the first election since Sogavare signed the security agreement with Beijing, which, according to a draught that was leaked, permits the use of Chinese security personnel to put an end to turmoil.
If efforts to postpone elections are successful, Solomon Islands wouldn’t have elections until at least 2024.
