How One Renegade Province in the Pacific Is Standing Up to Beijing’s Pressure, Bribes, Belt and Road

Epoch Times ^ | 04/05/2021 | Daniel Teng

[SeekAndFind]

In September 2019, two Pacific nations—the Solomon Islands and Kiribati—decided to drop diplomatic recognition of Taiwan in favor of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The move was the latest step in the Beijing regime’s continuing efforts to chip away at Taiwan’s international standing.

In the face of the Solomon Islands’ national government’s decision, Daniel Suidani, the premier of the Islands’ most populous region, Malaita Province, has continued to stand firm in his support for Taiwan, despite pressure from federal colleagues and Beijing.

“What we have seen with the PRC’s involvement in other countries in the region is that everything looks quite good at the start, but at the end of the day, the countries eventually find it difficult to handle the problems that come with dealing with China,” he told The Australian.

“As far as Malaita goes, we don’t want any help from the PRC, as we don’t want to have any constraints put on our independence.”

Upon winning the provincial election in June 2019, Suidani said he was approached by agents acting on Beijing’s behalf and was offered 1 million Solomon Island dollars (U.S. $125,200) to switch allegiance to the PRC from Taiwan.

“I received the offer by phone, and they told me where they were and said they wanted to meet with me to discuss it,” he said. “I knew I needed to take a strong stance against such an offer, and I drove to where they were staying so I could tell them that I do not accept.”

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