The US denies that geopolitical motives are behind a massive increase...

The United States has pledged $ 25 million ($ 35 million) for a province in the Solomon Islands that has called for an independence referendum on the national government’s China policy, raising concerns that aid is being used in geopolitical “squabbles” were.

The province of Malaita has been in a bitter dispute with the central government since 2019. The Solomon Islands ended 36 years of diplomatic relations with Taiwan and established official relations with Beijing.

The sizable nature of the pledge has worried Pacific experts, who are concerned that the US and China are playing geopolitical games.

“It’s either a remarkable coincidence, for some reason, someone at the State Department suddenly found Malaita on the map, or more likely, it has a lot to do with geopolitics,” said Dr. Terence Wood, a researcher at the Australia National University Development Center.

The US is picking up surprisingly, but is still way behind Australian aid

The $ 35 million pledge of financial assistance is part of the larger $ 280.5 million in aid the U.S. is expected to provide as part of its 2020 Pacific Pledge.

The amount is significant to the province of Malaita and is 50 times the $ 500,000 that the largest province of the Solomon Islands received from all nations in 2018.

While it helps the US maintain its place as a major player in the region, Australia remains the largest foreign aid provider to the Pacific.

Papua New Guinea remains the largest recipient of Australian aid at $ 596 million. In the Pacific, the Solomon Islands follow with 157 million US dollars.

“It still won’t do [the US] Australia will be nearly as large a donor to the Pacific as Australia and will remain the dominant donor in the Pacific, “said Dr. Wood across from ABC.

The Lowy Institute’s Pacific Aid Map, released last week, showed that Chinese aid to the Pacific halved in 2019, from $ 339.3 million in 2018 to $ 169.7 million.

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However, the promise of a new stadium in the Solomon Islands for the 2023 Pacific Games, the region’s biggest sporting event, is believed to have influenced Beijing’s policy in the country.

Dr. Wood said the escalation in US aid funding came as a surprise.

“All the more so since the United States only gave about $ 1.6 million to all of the Solomon Islands in 2018,” he said.

“So there seems to be a remarkable increase in interest in the country, and in a province in particular.

Additional funding through the Pacific Pledge is also expected to go to the Solomon Islands, but no specific amounts have been set for the country.

The program will focus on agricultural and environmental development over a five-year period.

Geopolitics in Malaita

China has claimed Taiwan as its territory.

As part of its one-China policy, it denies any region on its territory the right to establish diplomatic relations with other countries.

“I would almost certainly think that the United States is currently focused on Malaita as it is seen as a potential source of support in their own geostrategic battle with China in the region,” said Dr. Wood.

Chad Morris, the US embassy public affairs officer in Papua New Guinea who is also responsible for the Solomon Islands, has denied that the aid was politically motivated.

He said the plans had been in the works for two years.

“The timing of the announcement regarding the approval of funds and financing is normal business,” he said.

Anti-Chinese sentiment in Malaita Province was further heightened when Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare allowed a charter flight from China to the country that had not yet registered a case of coronavirus.

It has since confirmed two cases of COVID-19.

This prompted the Malatian Prime Minister Daniel Suidani to call for a referendum on independence.

Aid should improve regional well-being

The announcement was welcomed by the state government.

Prime Minister Suidani said in a statement: “Since the independence of the Solomon Islands in 1978, my people in Malaita Province have never seen or felt anything on this scale. It is a great gift from a friend indeed. “

The Solomon Islands government has reacted cautiously.

“In the meantime, the national government wants to warn certain groups and individuals in the country, particularly the people of Malaita Province, not to respect the proper government processes and mechanisms in handling aid,” a statement said.

The government said a detailed plan of how the money would be spent and what activities would be carried out would need to be developed first and then approved by the cabinet.

Mr Morris said the USAid program had the blessings of both the national and provincial governments of the Solomon Islands.

“While the focus is on Malaita, that doesn’t mean that other provinces in the Solomon Islands don’t benefit as well,” said Morris.

Dr. Wood urged aid countries to reflect on the well-being of all people living in the region.

“That really matters,” he said.