The Chinese Communist Party thought it had an easy victory
And then you stepped in
Welcome to China Uncensored, I’m Chris Chappell.
The Chinese Communist Party desperately wants to
make this man disappear. And thanks to you, that’s become a lot harder to do.
I’m of course talking about Daniel Suidani.
He’s from Solomon Islands, a strategically located Pacific Island nation
that Japan once used as a staging ground to fight the United States in World War 2.
Huh, I wonder why China is so interested in Solomon Islands?
The Chinese Communist Party judicially spread bribes around.
The Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare is entirely bought off.
He signed a secret security deal with China,
one that could see a Chinese military base on the islands.
Why, just like Japan had back in World War 2!
And of course, like any good authoritarian,
Sogavare decided it was in the best interests of his country to delay elections.
But that’s where Daniel Suidani proved to be trouble for Sogavare and the CCP.
As premier of Solomon Island’s most populous province, Mailita,
He resisted Chinese influence.
And bribes.
When China bribed Sogavare with development funds to break ties with Taiwan,
Suidani pushed back.
But unfortunately, Sogavare and the CCP pushed back harder.
When Suidani needed life saving medical treatment,
the government copied from the CCP social credit playbook and denied it to him.
He’s still alive because Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen heard about the situation and,
on humanitarian grounds, got him treatment in Taiwan.
But Sogavare and the CCP weren’t done yet.
Then they used Chinese money to bribe people to strip him of the Premiership
in a motion of no confidence. It took three tries, but it finally worked.
Then they stripped him of his duly elected seat in the provincial
assembly for "ongoing failure to recognize the One China Policy".
Think about that—a democratically elected official was purged because China demanded it.
That’s very bad.
Now Sogavare’s propagandists are trying to set up Suidani for prison, or worse,
by saying Suidani is working with the US government to assassinate him.
This article was written by the vice-president of the Solomon Islands-China Friendship Association.
What I’m getting at is that Suidani’s life expectancy might not be so long right now.
Or at least it wouldn’t have been if it weren’t for you.
China Uncensored started a GoFundMe campaign to bring him and his advisor
Celsus Talifilu to Washington DC to warn the US government about what China is doing.
In just 24 hours you all managed to raise over $27,000 to make that possible.
But there were obstacles.
First, the US state department denied Suidani’s visa, for no real reason.
But in a move as rare, beautiful and powerful as a unicorn,
there was bipartisan Congressional support for his visa. And so the State Department caved.
Then, GoFundMe froze the money you raised.
But after telling GoFundMe that we were in talks with media,
and that I testifying before the Congressional
Executive Commission on China about their refusal to release the funds,
they suddenly decided to release the funds! I’m sure that was just a coincidence.
While in DC, Suidani got to meet with US officials, like
He also spoke at the National Press Club.
And at Georgetown University.
And a major event at the Heritage Foundation.
All of that was possible because of you, my China Uncensored viewers.
It’s now going to be much, much harder for Sogavare and the CCP to make Suidani disappear.
While we were in DC, I interviewed Suidani about what comes next for him.
Well, congratulations on your trip to DC. Thank you. Well,
from the Solomon Islands, for somebody to be in DC is a history actually.
So my coming here to the people of Malaita Province gives them some kind of a hope for
things that we are standing for like freedom, democracy. So while in here,
we are so grateful getting to talk with the founding fathers of this idea of freedom.
It’s not easy to fly from there to here.
No, not really easy. So we are so happy to be here, but the way we came here is quite rushed
and we were not prepared to. But thanks to the people who arranged for us to come, we find it
very difficult to come. We flew from Solomon Islands to Fiji where we applied for the visas,
and it's quite difficult to get a visa to come to DC actually because of people looking after their
country and they need to get information. So maybe proper information to get a visa to come here.
Your first attempt to get a visa was denied, correct?
Yes.
I was told on the day when I went for the interview that
my interview was denied. That's all they told me.
Which is incredible considering you were trying
to come to the United States to warn us about what China is doing.
Yes. So they gave me the passport back the same day with an information sheet
of paper saying that you are not providing enough evidences and relevant information.
I see. I see. But then fortunately there was the bipartisan letters from people in Congress that
were able to put pressure on the State Department to get you that visa and you were able to come.
Correct. Yeah. I got some support from the bipartisan from the Congress. They
wrote the letter to the embassy in Fiji
telling them that they need to get my visa as soon as possible to come here to US.
So we have seen there is nowhere for being an individual patient in the country fighting on
your own for something that is quite huge. Like the system that we people,
everyone like to be free actually. So we want to get some help actually advise us and things that
with CCP actually. We want to understand the whole thing. We want to feel freedom,
though we come from a very small society. We also want to feel the same freedom that big
countries like United States people have. So that's the reason for coming here in
the United States to get some advices and some support in struggling, fighting for
the things that we don't want to see in our country [inaudible 00:04:27] for that matter.
It's funny because it reminds me of the issue we had with GoFundMe raising the money so you
guys could actually come to DC. They didn't want to give us the money until we mentioned we were
talking to the media and we're going to talk to Congress about it. But year, I wonder, is there
anything you want to say to the fans of the show who helped raise the money to get you here to DC?
Yes. I think from us, we are so grateful indeed for
supporting us to come here, and the money. Things that you have helped us to live here
in the United States, that's a very big thing for us and we are very thankful indeed from our heart.
And do you think the people here in DC have been receptive to your message, to your warnings?
Oh yeah, I believe people. I've been invited for a lot of meetings with them. I'm very happy that
they invite me and they have the conscience as well. So that's something I appreciated so much.
Now, I know back in the Solomon Islands there's this propaganda campaign against
you to try and portray you as some kind of American backed terrorist.
Can you tell us a little bit about that and what you're doing about that?
Well, the information actually comes every now and then in the newspapers about being colluded with
USA and Taiwan, getting firearms to assassinate the Prime Minister. That is not true. And
I know for sure that this information comes so that they can find ways to
push me out from representing my people and being an advocator for democracy. So that's
always upcoming in newspapers and for sure, this is all make up stories. There's no evidence of
that. The newspaper has been every now and then keep saying that on paper about me,
the propaganda that they used to write about me in newspaper. There's nothing true about it.
And I know the editor of the Solomon Star, correct?
Yes.
The one that accused you of planning to assassinate Sogavare. The editor is
also the vice president of the Solomon Island China Friendship Association.
Yes.
Very interesting.
Yes. He's the one who always, like I've said, part of the whole thing of the CCP
being the representative of the, what you've said. So he's the one always
getting the newspaper. He's the editor of the media, so every day he's doing it.
Are you worried at all about going back to the Solomon Islands?
Well, this is very fearful indeed, especially because the whole trend of accusation against
me will lead to arrest and all those things, even though this information
is not true. So it makes me feel frightened a little bit. And my family back at home,
media is a very strong tool and every day my children see the front page about me,
telling things about me. So yes, it's something of concern actually.
So what's next for you?
We'll be going back to the Solomons, and I've filed a court case, which I thank your
people for supporting me with the court case. Next week my lawyer will be advocating on my
behalf in the high courts of Solomon Island. And I'm very thankful. That is my next place
that I will be waiting for the judgment of the high court, whether it's in my favor, but
very thankful. The court in the Solomon Island is very expensive, but I'm so thankful that the
GoFundMe has supported me and that is my next place to see whether I'm coming back
or not. Depends on the judge [inaudible 00:09:28] of the high court.
And with all the lies that are being spread about you and the harassment of your family,
are you hopeful for what's coming next for the Solomon Islands?
If the people do not careful about all this information, that we know that this information
are not true, but if it continues to come up in newspapers, it's going to give the country
a big worry because we start to see people coming, advocating on not true information. So that's very
alarming for people in the country because that will lead the country to, in the near future,
very bad place to live. It's not friendly, there’s no more freedom, it's nothing. So
we need to be reminded very strongly about the things that is happening now in our country.
And if the Solomon Islands does fall to the Chinese
Communist Party and they are able to silence you,
what do you think that means for the Pacific Islands, for Taiwan, for the United States?
In my view, like I've said, the court case that I'm filing is a test of the whole thing. We have
the judiciary as the court is the last place, and if it falls against me and in favor of them,
that gives the CCP, you kno, some courage in the Pacific to dominate other Pacific
Islands as well. So that is my view, because they used a lot to attack people,
leaders. So it's a warning for all the Pacific Islands if they are not careful.
Well thank you for joining me. It's been a real honor to work with the fans of the show
to help bring you here to DC and I really hope your warning has been heard in DC. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for watching. I think what we’ve been
able to do together to help Mr. Suidani shows what a powerful community we have,
one that can move the US government and even foil the Chinese Communist Party’s plan a world away.
But there’s more work to be done. So stay tuned, and thank you for being a part of
this community. As always, China Uncensored would not exist without your support. So if you can,
for just a dollar an episode, you can ensure China Uncensored continues to
fight the good fight by supporting us on patreon.com/chinauncensored.
Once again I’m Chris Chappell, and thank you.