People in a small island nation
are furious over China’s corrupt influence,
and they’re demanding the Prime Minister step down
Welcome to China Uncensored. I’m Chris Chappell.
Pacific Islanders are at the front lines of a battle as the Chinese Communist Party tries
to slowly take over their countries—using political influence and huge sums of money.
Last week, the battle erupted in the Solomon Islands, which is here.
More specifically, in the capital Honiara, which is here.
It’s on the island of Guadalcanal. And if Guadalcanal sounds familiar,
it’s because that’s the place where the last expansionist Asian power had to be fought off.
Citizens protested in the streets on Wednesday, demanding the Prime Minister step down.
“Step down. Everybody says step down.”
I know, that doesn’t look like a lot of protesters. There were only about 1,000 people.
But keep in mind, the entire country has fewer people than my neighborhood in Queens.
On Wednesday and Thursday, some of the protesters began
looting—in the local Chinatown. Here they are banging on the gates of the Chinese embassy.
Now the good news is, the Western press are covering it.
The bad news is, their coverage is way off the mark. In fact, it’s dangerously off the mark.
Reuters frames it as police had to deploy tear gas to stop protesters from burning and looting.
The Guardian makes it seem like protesters burned down the parliament building.
Which, they did not.
The actual article clarifies that protesters merely “allegedly
set fire to a leaf hut next to Parliament House where MPs and staffers go to smoke and eat lunch.”
Oh, no, a leaf hut was burned. Where are the MPs going to eat lunch now?!
At least they can still smoke there.
Obviously, I don’t condone lighting fires.
Unless you’re lighting one under the Chinese Communist Party’s butt.
And anyway, one local journalist told ABC Australia,
“It was the [police’s] tear gas that started the fire.”
But the heart of the issue is that the Solomon Islands government has not
been listening to the people. And a huge number of people are really pissed off at the government.
In particular, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavareis deeply unpopular among average citizens
because of his shady deals with the Chinese regime.
In 2019, China made an offer to the Prime Minister: We’ll give you a $100 million loan
if you break ties with Taiwan, and switch allegiances to China.
Which he did.
“That decision to shift diplomatic ties to China—known locally as ‘the switch’—remains
unpopular and is mired in allegations that corrupt influence...helped shape the decision.”
I mean, who could turn down 100 million dollars?
In...the form of a loan. Which you might not be able to pay back, leaving you deeply in
debt forever to a brutal authoritarian regime. Sounds like a good deal to me!
And it’s not just that.
Since “the switch”, Chinese “companies and workers
have poured into the Solomons, spreading cash where needed,
buying influence, distorting local economies and bringing in a more authoritarian approach.”
Companies from China, as well as Malaysia and the Philippines, have been given control
of important natural resources in the Solomon Islands. And they’ve been logging and mining.
And earlier this year a Chinese state-owned company was given an exclusive contract
to build the $53 million stadium for the 2023 Pacific Games.
And guess who’s being hired for all those construction jobs?
This may shock you, but it’s not Solomon Islanders. It’s Chinese workers.
Not only are jobs going to Chinese workers—but Chinese companies are getting
top-level access to politicians, whereas locals have very little voice in parliament.
And nowhere is the anger over the CCP’s corrupt influence greater
than in Malaita province. I’ll explain after the break.
Welcome back.
In the Solomon Islands, there’s been a big brouhaha in Malaita Province, which is here.
This is the Premier of Malaita Province, Daniel Suidani.
We had him on our show back in July.
He’s been one of the rare politicians to speak out against the Solomon Islands’
partnership with the Chinese Communist Party.
And based on my conversation with him, he seems especially clear-eyed
about the problems that stem from working with the Communist Party.
In 2019, his government issued the Auki Communique.
It calls for granting no new business licenses to investors
connected with the Chinese Communist Party. One of the reasons it gives is this:
“[The Malaita Provincial Government] acknowledges the freedom of religion as a fundamental right
and further observes the entrenched Christian faith and belief in God...and
therefore rejects the Chinese Communist Party—CCP and its formal systems based on atheist ideology.”
He also specifically rejects the idea of a police state.
Ideas like this have made Suidani very popular with his people, but
not at all popular with the Solomon Islands Prime Minister and central government.
Last month, suspiciously well funded proxies of the central government tried to oust Suidani with
a vote of No Confidence. People in Malaita Province took to the streets to support him,
and forced them to withdraw the No Confidence motion.
Wow, a politician people actually like so much, they march in the streets to *support* him?
We are truly living in the strangest timeline.
That was in late October.
Then in November, perhaps the straw that broke the camel’s back
was a reconciliation ceremony in Malaita province,
that MPs from the central government were supposed to show up to. They did not show up. Meaning,
they showed citizens they had no interest in resolving the problems they had created.
There’s been long-standing tension between Malaita province, the biggest province in
the Solomon Islands, and the capital, and not just because of China. But the China issue is
bigger than just one province. Because while people in Malaita are definitely
upset over “the switch” and various China-related business contracts,
those concerns are also shared by people across the entire Solomon Islands.
So a lot of people have been angry at the Prime Minister and the government for a long time.
In fact, as one leader warned just a few weeks ago,
“It could easily fall into violence and that is my big concern.
Feelings are so high that it could spark. I’m just hoping that wisdom comes in
and the leaders see they can’t keep flogging a dead horse on this one.”
Well, leaders decided to flog the dead horse.
And it turned into this.
And then it got worse, as protesters allegedly burned part of a police station,
a high school, and some buildings in Chinatown.
On Friday, the New York Times reported that—according to police—three
bodies had been found. “The police were trying to determine
if the charred remains found in the capital’s Chinatown district were linked to the protests.”
Now keep in mind, Solomon Islanders had offered their central government a peaceful way
to reconcile their differences just a week
earlier—and the government intentionally ignored it.
And now, there are protests.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets.
Then the government imposed a curfew. And thanks to Western media coverage that
frames the protesters as dangerous and violent, the corrupt government now has the perfect excuse
to send in “peacekeeping troops” to fix the problem they had refused to solve peacefully.
Side note, most Western media coverage is eerily similar to Chinese state-run media coverage,
which also “supports the Solomon Islands government’s efforts
in stopping violence and chaos.”
So far, Australia has sent 100 troops, Papua New Guinea sent
50, and Fiji said they’ll send 50 tomorrow.
And the locals are not happy about it.
And it does seem like overkill, to stop only around 1,000 protesters,
especially when there’s no evidence that the three people who died were killed by protesters.
Now asking for foreign help is not unprecedented. From 2003 to 2017
the Australians had stationed peacekeeping troops in the Solomon Islands to quell unrest.
But now the context is, Australia is sending in troops to protect a
compromised Prime Minister with deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
How do you think this looks to Solomon Islanders
who are demonstrating against exactly this kind of corruption?
Peacekeeping troops may solve the Prime Minister’s immediate problem. But will
he work towards actually resolving the underlying issues? Or just keep on flogging that dead horse?
Meanwhile, as one analyst writes, “​​Beijing must be sitting back,
munching on popcorn and enjoying the show.”
And now it’s time for me to answer a question from a fan who supports China
Uncensored through the crowdfunding website Patreon, or the subscription platform Locals.
Great, question Sheminski. Yes, Chinese agents have indeed reached out to other YouTubers.
For example, my friend C-Milk from laowhy86. He did not accept their offer.
Chinese agents have also very likely reached out
to other YouTubers who did accept their offers—but it’s hard to know.
I don’t want to name names, but there are YouTubers who’ve been invited to Chinese state-run
events. And as the BBC reports, “In one of [this person’s] videos, [he] comments that organisations
like state-owned China Radio International will ‘offer to pay for the transport,
the flights [and] accommodation’ in exchange for...commenting on their trip in state media.”
That being said, I have some disappointing news, Sheminski. The Chinese Communist Party has never
reached out to me. Never! Do they think I’m not good enough to sell out to the Chinese regime?
I mean, how come the Communist Party offers the Solomon Islands $100 million dollars,
but doesn't even offer me a free trip to Xinjiang? The world is an unfair place.
But at least I have you. You and other members of the China Uncensored 50-Cent Army.
Those are fans who support our work through Patreon or Locals. And it’s fans like you
who are actually funding the vast majority of our show. So I really appreciate your ongoing support.
Thanks for watching.
Be like Sheminski and check us out on Patreon and on Locals. The links are below.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell. See you next time.