Chinese state company wins contract to redevelop Solomon Islands port, prompting cautious response

A Chinese state company has won a major contract to redevelop the port in Honiara, the capital of Solomon Islands, prompting a cautious response from Pacific neighbours.

The prime minister of Samoa, Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, raised concerns that the commercial port “might morph into something else” and suggested that Pacific countries may have to monitor the situation.

Wednesday’s announcement was made nearly a year after China signed a security pact with Solomon Islands that Australian officials had said might pave the way for a future Chinese naval presence about 1,700km north-east of the Queensland coast.

Reuters cited a Solomon Islands official as saying that the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) was the only company to submit a bid in the competitive tender for the redevelopment project.

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“This will be upgrading the old international port in Honiara and two domestic wharves in the provinces,” Mike Qaqara, an official of the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, told Reuters.

The two other upgrades are planned for the provinces of Makira and Renbel, and all together are part of a $170m project funded by the Asian Development Bank to upgrade roads and wharves.

According to the government of Solomon Islands, CCECC had already been awarded the contract for the roads aspect of the project last year.

The Australian government said on Wednesday that it “closely monitors developments which might impact on our national interest”.

“The Solomon Islands Infrastructure Development Ministry has said that there will be no expansion of the port for dual use,” a spokesperson for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

“We support infrastructure development in the Pacific that is open and transparent, meets genuine development needs, and delivers long-term economic benefits.”

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It is understood the Asian Development Bank managed the tender process through which the construction contract was awarded.

When China and Solomon Islands signed their security agreement during the Australian election campaign last April, Labor branded it “the worst Australian foreign policy blunder in the Pacific” in decades.

On Wednesday the Australian government reached a partnership agreement with another Pacific neighbour, Samoa, which committed the two sides to pursue “a Pacific-family-first approach to peace and security”.

Australia and Samoa also promised to respect the centrality of the regional body known as the Pacific Islands Forum, saying they would “encourage members to speak with one voice for the Pacific in the global context”.

This appeared to be against the backdrop of China last year attempting a regional security agreement away from the Pacific Islands Forum structures.

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Fiamē weighed in on the Honiara port contract when she held a press conference in Canberra after her meeting with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese. The Samoan prime minister said it was important to recognise “the sovereign rights of countries to make decisions”.

“This is a commercial port, although I think the fears are that it might morph into something else,” Fiamē said.

But she suggested it was too soon to establish whether there would be a military dual-purpose behind the development.

“I suppose we have to address that if and when it might happen. At the same time too, you know, let’s be quite clear, other countries also have military or naval stations within the region as well.”

Senior US and Chinese representatives have visited Solomon Islands this week in a sign of the increasing contest for influence in the Pacific. The prime minister of Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare, met the vice-chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency, Tang Wenghong, on Monday.

“During the brief courtesy visit, Solomon Islands and [the] People’s Republic of China engaged in cordial, in-depth and rewarding communication that enhances SI-PRC cooperation,” Sogavare’s office said in a social media post.

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Sogavare and the Chinese ambassador to Solomon Islands witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on China’s global development initiative.

On Tuesday, Sogavare welcomed a US delegation led by the White House’s top Indo-Pacific coordinator, Kurt Campbell. This follows the reopening of the US embassy in Honiara in early February.

“A friend to all, enemy to none, Solomon Islands remains a close friend of the US and all development partners,” said a statement by Sogavare’s office.

Sogavare oversaw the switch in diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China in 2019. He has repeatedly assured Australia and other countries that there will never be a foreign military base in his country.

Sogavare said last year that Australia remained the “security partner of choice” for Solomon Islands and he would only call on China to send security personnel to the country if there was a “gap” that Australia could not meet.

Additional reporting by Reuters