| Solomon Islands: TIME’S RUNNING OUT, ENVOY CHAN WARNS |
Extra commitments test Taiwan’s patience
Alfred Sasako
 |
George Chan... New administration in Honiara has been making “unreasonable demands”.
|
The year was 1983. Then Finance Minister, Bartholomew Ulufa’alu, was in Beijing [Peking at the time] discussing diplomatic relations with the sleeping giant of Asia. He led a three-man delegation at the behest of then Prime Minister, Solomon Mamaloni.
Ulufa’alu was accompanied by his permanent secretary, Snyder Rini, now Minister of Finance, the late Felix Panjuboe from the Prime Minister’s Office and a businessman.
Little did Ulufa’alu know his “boss” had already made up his mind. Solomon Islands was going with Taiwan.
As Ulufa’alu’s delegation arrived for their second meeting with top Chinese officials on day two of their visit, the silence in the room was deafening, according to various accounts.
Suddenly, the head of the Chinese delegation stormed into the office, waving a sheet of paper. It was an announcement carried by the wire service overnight that Solomon Islands and the Republic of China or Taiwan had established diplomatic relations.
“There must be a mistake,” was all Ulufa’alu could muster as the atmosphere in the room suddenly changed.
“What mistake? There’s no mistake,” the Chinese official boomed back.
“Here, look at this,” the official said as he stormed out of the room, according to one account.
Twenty-five years on, the diplomatic relations founded under somewhat deceptive circumstances are under increasing pressure both from within as well as from other donor partners.
They see Taiwan as being responsible for encouraging the dependency mentality as well as the culture of official corruption in the Solomon Islands, charges or accusations Taiwan’s ambassador to Solomon Islands, George Chan, vehemently denied.
Government Ministers in the Coalition for National Unity and Rural Advancement [CNURA] government led by Prime Minister Derek Sikua have also joined in the fray, accusing Taiwan of being selective in who receives favourable treatment on project funding assistance.
According to these disgruntled ministers, Taiwan appears to have an ear for ministers in the last government led by East Choiseul MP, Manasseh Sogavare, than ministers in the CNURA government.
Sogavare was dumped in a no confidence motion last December after revelation the Taiwanese embassy had guaranteed a S$3.8 million loan through a long-term rental arrangement for his house.
When the controversial deal came to light, Ambassador Chan said it was a “straight forward commercial” arrangement. The embassy, he said, could not find a good house to rent for staff and other Taiwanese officials working in Honiara.
“They [government ministers] still think I am too close to Hon Sogavare and that the government could change again,” Ambassador Chan once complained to me.
“I don’t change government. They do,” he said.
Ambassador Chan arrived in Honiara in September 2006.
“I arrived at a time when the country was already peaceful—thanks to the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands [RAMSI] and other donors. Everything was pointing in the right direction,” the veteran diplomat told ISLANDS BUSINESS in an exclusive interview in Honiara.
He admitted Taiwan and Solomon Islands have had their moments of ups and downs in their 25 years of diplomatic relations.
One of the incidents that almost ended the friendly relations occurred in 2002/2003. It was a time gun-trotting militants were in total control of the nation’s capital, using Government Treasury as their bank on a daily basis.
Then Foreign Minister, Danny Philip, under Sogavare’s post-coup administration, was sent to Taiwan to officially open Solomon Islands’ new resident embassy in Taipei.
While in transit in Brisbane, Philip received instructions from the Prime Minister’s Office to abort the Taipei trip.
Instead, he was to travel to Hong Kong where he would meet some middlemen allegedly acting for the Beijing Government to negotiate the question of diplomatic relations. He did.
When news of Philip’s diversion to Hong Kong hit the media, Taiwanese embassy staff were instructed to pack up, ready to leave at a moment’s notice. They did not.
Instead, Prime Minister Sogavare fired Philip even before the foreign minister had an opportunity to brief cabinet on the outcome of his discussions. The official reason for the sacking was Philip acted alone in going to Hong Kong.
Sogavare quickly informed the Taiwanese Embassy of his action and requested an official visit to Taiwan to explain the diplomatic incident.
“We are aware that with the rise of China as a powerful economy, the tendency by some ministers is for Solomon Islands to open its doors to Beijing,” Ambassador Chan said.
“We don’t say it’s wrong. What we do say is that China is still not ready to accept Taiwan as an equal partner in the international arena. But the question of diplomatic relations is a matter of choice,” he said.
Ambassador Chan warned that Honiara must carefully weigh the pros and cons of making a diplomatic switch.
“In the long run, Solomon Islands may not continue to enjoy the assistance it is receiving from Taiwan right now. Any change will have drastic impacts in the rural areas and your rights and freedoms on certain issues may be severely restricted,” he said.
“Sure, they will give you stadiums and so on, but in terms of economic activities, never expect anything to happen except a lot of talk.
“Unlike China, Taiwan indicated very clearly to your government that we will fulfill all our ongoing commitments to Solomon Islands just as we are doing to all the countries with whom we have diplomatic relations,” Chan said.
But no one actually knows the full extent of Taiwan’s aid package to Solomon Islands. What is known is that Solomon Islands receives US$10 million [about S$96 million] in annual budgetary grants from Taiwan. There are other programmes worth tens of millions of dollars that Taiwan is funding.
For example, its agricultural technical mission in Honiara cost Taipei around US$2 million [about S$15.58 million] each year.
With a new president in Office, the writing appears to be on the wall for Taiwan’s free handouts. And friendly countries that think they could get more outside on-going commitments will have to think again.
Ambassador Chan cited Costa Rica and the African nation of Malawi as once friendly countries making “unreasonable demands” on Taipei for more money. After 61 years of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Costa Rica, the tie between the two was severed. Taipei took a similar action with Malawi after 31 years of diplomatic relations.
And Solomon Islands may not be too far away from such a fate.
“If Solomon Islands politicians think China can do better in this country, well, that’s something only they can decide.
“For us, friendship is mutual. I must point out that it is a fantasy to think that China will do better than what we are doing here. We have no objection to Solomon Islands doing business with China as long as Beijing is ready to accept Taiwan as a member of the international community,” he said.
He then dropped the bombshell, revealing that the new administration in Honiara has been making “unreasonable demands” in terms of project submissions.
“We can only go as far. When we feel these demands have reached a point we can no longer accommodate, we’ll simply say, enough is enough. That time may not be very far from hereon,” he said.
According to Ambassador Chan, the Sikua’s administration had submitted at least four projects worth S$83.4 million [about US$10.7 million].
They are a national stadium, estimated at S$27 million; a S$10 million rural electrification programme; a S$23 million National Parliament extension; and a fee-free education programme worth S$23.38 million. These projects are additional to on-going commitments.
“What ought to be understood is that demands should be within the capacity of your friend to deliver, especially when these projects are additional to on-going commitments, otherwise your friend may turn around and say, enough is enough,” Ambassador Chan said.
To-date, the government in Taipei had already given in-principle an agreement to fund Stage 2 of the National Parliament Building Project.
“It is our response to Solomon Islands’ commitment to host the Taiwan-Pacific Allies summit next year. We would like to see the building handed over to Solomon Islands at the time of the summit in October/November next year,” he said.
Ambassador Chan also reiterated what many foreign observers have said over and over again over the years.
“Your country is so blessed with abundant natural resources that you can be a shining example to the rest of the Pacific. But you need the right policy and good leadership management. Solomon Islands can be a shining example for the rest of the Pacific.”
|
|
