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China in Talks to Buy Strategic Island in The Solomons – ABC

A Chinese state-owned company is “negotiating to buy a deepwater port and a World War Two airstrip” in the Solomon Islands, according to a report on Monday by the ABC


China is negotiating to buy an island in the Solomons, according to an ABC investigation.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hugs Solomon Islands PM Manasseh Sogavare at the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji on July 13, 2022. File photo: Joe Armao, pool via Reuters.

 

A Chinese state-owned company is “negotiating to buy a deepwater port and a World War Two airstrip” in the Solomon Islands, according to a report on Monday by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which also revealed documents that allegedly show Beijing used a multi-million-dollar “slush fund” to keep the Pacific nation’s leader in power.

China is eyeing a hardwood forestry plantation on the island of Kolombangara, although a local MP claimed that a representative from the China Forestry Group Corporation who visited the island three years ago showed more interest in its protected deepwater harbour and the local airstrip, the ABC Four Corners report said.

Read the full report: ABC News.

 

ALSO SEE:

China-Solomons Pact’s Lack of ‘Transparency’ Worries US

Australia to Keep Security Ties With Solomons Despite China Pact

Canberra Sends Minister to Solomon Islands Over China Pact

Australia Says China Solomons Deal Risks Destabilising Pacific

 

 

 

Jim Pollard

Jim Pollard is an Australian journalist based in Thailand since 1999. He worked for News Ltd papers in Sydney, Perth, London and Melbourne before travelling through SE Asia in the late 90s. He was a senior editor at The Nation for 17+ years.

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