Australian Prime Minister visits Solomon Islands while Pacific country wants to connect China to China

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will visit Solomon Islands next week, the Australian president said on Monday, as Western countries try to contain China's influence over the country. tiny pacific island and in the area.

The United States and its allies are trying to ensure that the Pacific countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan do not criticize those who support their establishment with Beijing.

Solomon Islands is one of the few Pacific countries to recognize Taiwan, a policy that is the subject of a policy after the recent island elections. China regards Taiwan as a renegade province without rights to relations between states.

Morrison's first trip abroad since his re-election this month will also be the first visit of an Australian Prime Minister to the Solomon Islands since 2008.

"The Pacific is at the heart of Australia's strategic outlook, "Morrison said in a statement sent by email.

He did not mention efforts to preserve Taiwan's diplomatic alliances, but badysts say the issue has become a hot spot in the region and will likely be raised.

"China is Solomon Islands' biggest trading partner, putting a lot of pressure on legislators to change their allegiance," said Jonathan Pryke, director of the Pacific Island Group Program. Lowy Institute.

On Friday, a senior US official said Washington would help the Pacific countries cope with China's efforts to expand its influence.

These remarks threaten to ignite tensions between the United States and China already inflamed by a trade war, US sanctions and China's increasingly military military stance in the South China Sea.

SOFT POWER

Australia and China vie for more and more influence in the sparsely populated Pacific island countries that control vast expanses of resource-rich oceans.

On Monday, Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing, promising that China would encourage investment and enhance cooperation on trade and infrastructure, according to the Chinese Ministry Foreign Affairs.

Last year, Vanuatu and China denied reports that Beijing wanted to establish a permanent military presence in the Pacific island nation.

Wishing to undermine China's belt and road initiative, Australia has increasingly devoted foreign aid to the region.

In 2018, Australia announced that it would spend $ 139 million to develop submarine Internet cable links to Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, due to concerns from national security concerning the Chinese company Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.

That year, Australia became the first country to ban from its nascent broadband network the Chinese company, the world's largest manufacturer of telecommunication network equipment, a step that the United States has followed this year by effectively banning US companies from doing business with Huawei.

In November, Australia offered Pacific countries up to 3 billion Australian dollars in subsidies and cheap loans for infrastructure construction because Morrison said the region was "our patch".

Australia has been successful in its spending commitments, but support for its coal industry is a sore point for many people living in a region particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise. by global warming induced by greenhouse gases.

"There is no doubt that many Pacific Islands will be unhappy with Morrison's reelection," said Peter Chen, professor of political science at the University of Sydney.

"He will have to find a common ground to repair this relationship."