{"id":87656,"date":"2023-07-12T11:44:12","date_gmt":"2023-07-12T11:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=87656"},"modified":"2023-07-12T11:44:12","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T11:44:12","slug":"solomon-islands-may-lead-way-as-china-eyes-greater-south-pacific-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=87656","title":{"rendered":"Solomon Islands may lead way as China eyes greater South Pacific role"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Source: China &#8211; South China Morning PostThe South Pacific could provide a \u201cnew focus\u201d for China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative after this week\u2019s visit by the Solomon Islands\u2019 Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, according to diplomatic observers. Sogavare met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, and the two leaders pledged to establish a \u201ccomprehensive strategic partnership\u201d and form \u201cgreater synergy\u201d between the transcontinental infrastructure project and the islands\u2019 2035 development strategy. \u201cAlthough our friendship arrived belatedly, it is leading the way in relations between China and the Pacific Islands,\u201d Xi told Sogavare. Last year the Solomon Islands government was criticised by the United States for signing a secretive security pact with China. Neither of the governments has released a full version of the agreement, but China has offered increased police training and equipment to the Solomons since then. Australia, the island\u2019s traditional police force partner, also reacted by stepping up police supplies and has urged the island government to renew its own security treaty. This week, Sogavare signed a raft of deals with Premier Li Qiang, covering development, trade, infrastructure, and policing \u2013 allowing China to maintain a police presence in the Solomon Islands for another three years. He also invited the Chinese leaders for a return visit \u201cat an early date\u201d. Australian defence minister in Solomon Islands for security talks \u201cThis is part of China\u2019s post-Covid diplomatic offensive,\u201d said Zhu Zhiqun, an international relations professor at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. \u201cWhile Beijing is trying to mend ties with Western powers, its focus has been on consolidating relations with developing nations, where China enjoys more support than in the developed world.\u201d Zhu added: \u201cI think the South Pacific is a new focus of the [Belt and Road Initiative] with great potential for cooperation. The BRI already has footprints in other developing regions.\u201d Sogavare arrived on Sunday for a week-long visit which will see him visit Beijing and provinces of\u2026<a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/diplomacy\/article\/3227469\/solomon-islands-may-lead-way-china-eyes-greater-south-pacific-role?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"feedzy-rss-link-icon\" rel=\"noopener\">Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: China &#8211; South China Morning PostThe South Pacific could provide a \u201cnew focus\u201d for China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative after this week\u2019s visit by the Solomon Islands\u2019 Prime Minister&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87656"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=87656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87656\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=87656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=87656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=87656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}