"Geopolitical tensions have been the spark but not the major driver," said Jonathan Pryke, Pacific Islands program director at the Lowy Institute international policy think tank.
The self-ruled island of Taiwan split from mainland China after a civil war in 1949, but Beijing claims it as part of its territory and has persuaded all but 15 countries, most of them small and poor in Africa and Latin America, to switch recognition to the mainland.īut experts say the unrest on the Solomon Islands is driven by the same underlying causes that have undermined the social fabric for decades: inter-island and ethnic tensions, a perceived lack of sharing of resources between Guadalcanal and Malaita, widespread poverty and high youth unemployment. WHAT'S CHINA'S ROLE IN THE CURRENT UNREST?Ĭhina has provided another cause for the community to divide, with the government supporting Beijing and the Malatian leaders supporting Taiwan.
Ulufa'alu resigned in exchange for his freedom, and the current Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare began the first of his four stints as the unstable nation's leader. In 2000, the Malaita Eagle Force kidnapped Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufa'alu, a Malaitan, because they did not consider he was doing enough for the Malaitans' cause. With the police force ethnically divided, law and order on Guadalcanal collapsed. The Malaita Eagle Force militia was formed to protect them in a conflict that led the government to declare a four-month state of emergency in 1999.Īustralia and New Zealand rejected the government's request for help. In the late 1990s, native Guadalcanal islanders, known as Guales, launched a campaign of violence and intimidation to drive the Malaitans off the island. The South Pacific nation of 700,000 people - mostly Melanesian but also Polynesian, Micronesian, Chinese and European - is, like neighboring Australia and New Zealand, a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II the head of state.Ī migration of settlers from Malaita, the country's second biggest island and most populous province, to the economic opportunities on Guadalcanal and Honiara stoked ethnic tensions and eventually unrest. It was then known as the British Solomon Islands Protectorate and became the Solomon Islands before independence in 1978. The Solomon Islands are famous as a battleground of World War II, the pivotal Battle of Guadalcanal named after the country' largest island where the restive capital Honiara is located. Here's a look at some of the reasons behind the turmoil: CANBERRA, Australia - The Solomon Islands' decision to switch its diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing has been blamed for arson and looting in the national capital Honiara, where protesters are demanding the prime minister's resignation.Īustralian police, troops and diplomats are helping local police restore peace and order while trying to keep out of the domestic political dispute.
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