Foreign relations of the Solomon Islands
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Countries with diplomatic missions in the Solomon Islands are Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Japan. The Solomon Islands also has diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (as opposed to the People's Republic of China), which has a resident representative in Honiara.
The U.S. Ambassador resident in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, also is accredited to Solomon Islands. The Solomon Islands' Permanent Representative to the United Nations also is accredited as its ambassador to the United States of America and Canada.
Relations with Papua New Guinea, which had become strained because of an influx of refugees from the Bougainville rebellion and attacks on the northern islands of the Solomon Islands by elements pursuing Bougainvillean rebels, have been repaired. A peace accord on Bougainville confirmed in 1998 has removed the armed threat, but refugee return has been slow.
Relations with Australia are currently also extremely strained, with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare accusing Australia of "heavy-handed" interference in the Solomon Island's domestic affairs, subsequently expelling Australia's ambassador to the country Patrick Cole. In a nationally televised address, Sogavare claimed that the Australian-led security forces in the Solomons had not dealt properly with the country's underlying problems.[1]
"We are concerned that Canberra's policies are aimed at excluding and containing the peoples of the region, instead of working collectively to address fundamental problems of social instability that can only be solved through dialogue, rather than the use of development aid, and political force as leverage, to dictate Australia's involvement"
Sogavare also claimed that Australia's involment in the region could be "driving this country down the path of another conflict that could be more serious" than the April 2006 riots that broke out after an election won by the former deputy prime minister Snyder Rini, when thousands of anti-government protesters burned down buildings in the Solomon Island's capital Honiara's Chinese district, alleging that either China or Taiwan had paid lawmakers to vote for Rini.[2]
Solomon Islands is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth, South Pacific Commission, South Pacific Forum, International Monetary Fund, and the European Economic Community/African, Caribbean, Pacific Group (EEC/ACP)/(Lome Convention).
[edit] International organization participation
ACP, AsDB, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), IOC, ITU, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, United Nations, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTrO
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200609/s1743337.htm
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5355220.stm
| Member states of the Pacific Islands Forum |  |
|---|---|
| Australia · Cook Islands · Fiji · Kiribati · Marshall Islands · Micronesia · Nauru · New Zealand · Niue · Palau · Papua New Guinea · Samoa · Solomon Islands · Tonga · Tuvalu · Vanuatu
associate members: French Polynesia · New Caledonia ·— observer Tokelau special observer: Timor-Leste |
