In smaller Pacific nation news, the country of the Solomon Islands located north of Australia has had mass rioting in the past few days. The rioting has lead to a number of deaths and hundreds of buildings burned down. Although it is not fully clear what caused the rioting in the first place, the general consensus was that it was sparked by the government’s decision to switch diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China. The majority of the rioting has been in the small but growing Chinatown in the country’s main island. The people in the country believe that they are selling out the countries ethics for Chinese money from investment and infrastructure. The rioters believe that a new government should be put in place to ensure a switch back to Taiwan. Although this is one example, the Solomon islands is not the only country in recent weeks to go against China and their influence.
Recently the small Baltic country of Lithuania has also made statements to take a stand against China. According to the AFP, “Lithuania is showing the world a way to resist China’s growing pressure by diversifying supply chains and uniting with fellow democracies, the EU nation’s foreign minister said Wednesday. One of the smallest EU nations, Lithuania has been punching above its weight diplomatically by letting Taiwan open an office in its own name.”
China has responded by downgrading its diplomatic relations with the nation and China’s foreign ministry said the move had “undermined China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and created a “bad precedent internationally”. Regardless it has been seen in recent months more countries are stepping up and supporting the small island nation against a growing Chinese threat. Many analysts have gone as far to say that China will be preparing to invade the island within the next 5 years as they continue to modernize their military and navy. Regardless, the new found support has been a breath of fresh air for Taiwan who has gradually lost international support since the recognition of the one-china policy in the 70s.
I find the entire Tawain and China interaction very interesting, as it blows up in the news every few months, but always dies off despite the reality that the conflict has been over a decade. It seems with the attention that it has been getting lately has forced China to begin worrying about their international image, which must be important as they are a huge exporter globally. It will be interesting as well to see how other nations respond, especially once global leaders start making statements about the situation. Thanks for the update!