The US Coast Guard vessel incident in the Solomon Islands clearly proves Honiara’s slow transition under control of China. Despite the island authorities’ denial of their plan to allow stationing Chinese military base on their territory, it is more than obvious that Beijing forced the Solomon Islands to stop regional cooperation with the United States and its allies, and increase its military presence in the country.
The Solomon Islands banned US Coast Guard ships from entering for a scheduled port of call, concerns that the Oceania nation is severing U.S. ties in favor of China.
The USCG cutter Oliver Henry, which is homebased in Guam, was scheduled for routine logistics port call on Guadalcanal. The Solomon Islands government did not respond to a U.S. request for diplomatic clearance to refuel and provision at Honiara. Accordingly, CGC Oliver Henry was diverted to Papua New Guinea for refueling and provision.
The USCGC Oliver Henry was patrolling on illegal fishing in the South Pacific for a regional fisheries agency when it was refused entry for refueling at Honiara, the Solomons’ capital. There are all reasons to say that it was not the first incident with Honiara’s service denial.
The British navy has refused to comment on social media reports saying that patrol vessel HMS Spey, the participant of Operation Island Chief to crack down on illegal fishing in the economic exclusion zones of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, have been banned by Honiara from entering the port too.
The fisheries agency for the Pacific Islands Forum, a block of 17 Pacific nations, has Honiara-based maritime surveillance center and annually conducts surveillance operations for illegal fishing with assistance from Australia, United States, New Zealand and France.
China’s fishing fleets already dominate the seas among nearly 30,000 islands in the South Pacific, fishing huge quantities of tuna, while sometimes sharing intelligence on the US Navy’s movements with Beijing. If China could deploy forces to ports and airports and set up satellite communications sites, all of which are getting closer to reality in some Pacific island nations, it could intercept communications and close shipping lanes.
Earlier Honiara signaled about distancing itself from the USA when Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare skipped a memorial service marking the anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal, a key battle in the Second World War in which American and other allied forces wrested control of the islands back from Imperial Japan.
If the situation with USCGC Oliver Henry happens again, it will mean that Beijing forced Honiara to freeze cooperation with the United States. In the future, China is likely to seek the exclusive right to patrol in the territorial waters of the Solomon Islands.
It enables China to monitor the movements of the American and Australian navy, and in a worst-case scenario gives the Chinese army a green light to close the sea lane between Australia and the United States, which would be a signal to Washington that China will not stand idly by in the face of American attempts to encircle it militarily.
At the same time, there is a possibility that the Chinese Navy will use the deep-water port, built by the Chinese state-owned company, which de facto will turn to the Navy base analogue. In addition the Chinese naval base in the Solomon Islands could be used to intercept Taiwan’s military reinforcements.
Chinese leaders have learned that Pacific Island countries are more receptive to security agreements that downplay Beijing’s military aims and offer specific benefits in return. Such a calculation likely shaped the China-Solomon Islands security pact — and it worked.
The Solomon Islands provide a special location from which Beijing can control the ocean and air space, which could threaten the longitudinal and linear lines of communication between the United States and its allies in the Pacific Ocean, including Australia.
The prospect of Chinese security forces’ deployment on the territory of the Solomon Islands caused a public outcry. Many Pacific Islanders take a potential Chinese military presence as a threat to the regional stability.
Much of the country’s unrest in recent years has been fueled by local dissatisfaction over the government’s warming relationship with Beijing.
In summary, there is a high likelihood that Beijing will try to station police units or private military groups on the islands under the color of China’s attempts to protect its businesses. However, after deploying the forces will be also tasked to fight against opponents of the Chinese presence in the Solomon Islands and the forceful pressure on Honiara to get China’s influence guaranteed. This process will inevitably mean curtailment of democracy in the islands.
