A Chinese government official pushed back at criticism by Australia of Huawei's expansion in the Solomon Islands through a $66 million loan from China to construct mobile communications towers.
China signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands earlier this year and will loan the Solomon Islands government $66 million to construct 161 new mobile communication towers, The Guardian reported. The Chinese telecommunication company Huawei will build and supply the towers.
“Why should Australia be outraged? Huawei is a great company; Solomon Islands is sovereign!” Ma Hui, a Chinese government official, said in an Aug. 19 post on Twitter.
The Solomon Islands government called the deal “a historical financial partnership." Less than half of its population has internet access, so the government has expressed hope this partnership will bring increased internet access to schools, clinics and other institutions, The Guardian reported.
The announcement has sparked some controversy, according to The Guardian. Multiple countries have placed regulations on Huawei in recent years, citing security concerns. The U.S. banned sharing technology with Huawei in 2019. In 2020, the British government ordered telecom providers to cease installing Huawei equipment, according to The Guardian article. The Australian government has banned Huawei's involvement in government contracts. In 2018, it intervened when Huawei awarded a contract to the Solomon Islands to construct an underwater telecommunication cable network.
Earlier this year, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi toured eight Pacific Island nations to reach an agreement that would give China access to land, sea and digital infrastructure in exchange for training, scholarships and other development opportunities, The New York Times reported. The approximately 30,000 nations in the region cover a span of the Pacific Ocean three times larger than the continental U.S., and China already has a visible presence there. If China succeeds in building more ports, airports and outposts, it could more easily intercept American communications and block shipping lanes.
Although Wang Yi did not get the signatures he sought, he secured a few smaller agreements, according to The New York Times. Those included a security deal with the Solomon Islands that allows China military forces to protect Chinese investments or quell unrest and potentially construct a port that could be used for commercial or military purposes.
A leaked draft of the agreement said Chinese military personnel in the Solomon Islands could help with “maintaining social order, protecting people’s lives and property and providing humanitarian assistance,” while protecting Chinese interests in the area and using the nation as a strategic base, according to the Brookings Institute. Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare denied that it would allow the construction of a Chinese naval base.
U.S. restrictions on Huawei arose from accusations that the company used its technology to spy on other nations, which sparked concern due to Huawei’s close ties with the Chinese government, Android Authority reported Aug. 14. In May 2019, former-President Donald Trump added Huawei to The Entity List, prohibiting Huawei from doing business with companies that operate in the U.S.
