Pacific island country in Melanesia. Its capital is Honiara, on the island of Guadalcanal, which saw hand-to-hand combat between American marines and Japanese soldiers in 1942. The country is a member of the Pacific Islands Forum.
China has made greater inroads in the Solomon Islands than in any other Pacific island country. Chinese firms are ubiquitous; locals call one, CCECC, "China China Everything China China". Many Solomon Islanders claim to dislike the Chinese presence, but politicians and officials jump to China's defence when its dealings come under scrutiny.
Since 2019 Chinese state-owned firms have been looking to lease a deepwater harbour in the country. Some of these harbours sit next to airstrips built by American sailors in the second world war. In one case a Chinese firm told local officials that a proposed port would be used by the Chinese navy.
China signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands, alarming Australia, which regards the country as lying on its northern approaches. In 2023 China struck an agreement to boost security for the Pacific Games, held in the Solomon Islands that year. Chinese police were deployed and remain in the country.
Australia has been working hard to block Chinese progress, more than matching Chinese aid. In Honiara, a one-road town, both Australian and Chinese billboards boast of generous co-operation.
Since accepting training from China, police forces in places like the Solomon Islands have shifted towards a culture of protecting the state rather than the people, according to Mihai Sora of the Lowy Institute. In 2025 a group of Chinese advisers went to the Solomon Islands to promote the "Fengqiao Model", a Mao-era system of community surveillance. Australia competes through "gifting brinkmanship"—offering local police more equipment and assistance than China does, with fewer conditions. The Solomon Islands government has started talking about establishing its own armed forces, which, according to Mr Sora, "nobody thinks is a good idea" but Australia may support lest the Solomons ask China for help instead.
In September 2025 the Solomon Islands hosted the annual Pacific Islands Forum summit. China was expressly not invited but its diplomats were on the ground anyway, seeking to influence Pacific island leaders. China asked the Solomons to prevent Taiwan from attending as an observer—a move analysts said was a concerted attempt to pry Pacific islands apart and sow discord within the forum. Unable to defy China, the Solomons chose instead to ban all non-member observers, including China, America and the EU, preventing Taiwan-supporting countries from boycotting the event.
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