Solomon Islands ousts PM who sought to balance China and west

{"text":[[{"start":7.05,"text":"The Solomon Islands has ousted the country’s prime minister, opening up a new contest for influence in the Pacific island nation that has become a geopolitical flashpoint between China and western powers."}],[{"start":18.6,"text":"Jeremiah Manele, a former diplomat, lost a no-confidence vote in parliament on Thursday."}],[{"start":24.5,"text":"While serving as foreign minister in 2022, Manele signed a security deal with China that roiled the strategic region’s traditional power alignment and stoked alarm in Washington and Canberra."}],[{"start":36.65,"text":"But he was also more open to discussions with the US and regional partner of Australia after taking over as prime minister in 2024. That year, he signed a A$190mn (US$138mn) security deal with Canberra to expand the Melanesian country’s police force, a move that stemmed China’s growing influence."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":56.65,"text":"His ousting on Thursday opens up a leadership battle that could derail that initiative, according to Mihai Sora, director of research at the Lowy Institute think-tank."}],[{"start":67.5,"text":"“That is all up in the air under a new PM,” he said."}],[{"start":70.75,"text":"Sora added that there was every chance that a more China-friendly leader such as Manasseh Sogavare — Manele’s predecessor who forged closer security and commercial links with Beijing — or Peter Shanel Agovaka, who resigned from the coalition in May, would be elected."}],[{"start":87.45,"text":"The China security deal set off a rush of diplomatic efforts by the US and Australia as they sought to reinforce ties with Pacific nations."}],[{"start":95.8,"text":"Sogavare’s administration in 2019 also switched the Solomon Islands’ diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan."}],[{"start":104.05,"text":"The rupture comes as the global fuel crisis from the war in the Middle East has hit small Pacific islands particularly hard because of their dependence on imported energy. Fuel imports account for almost a fifth of all imports to the Solomon Islands. "}],[{"start":118.45,"text":"Australia this week struck an economic and security deal with Fiji that will include A$30mn in funds to mitigate the effect of rising fuel prices. Fiji is a critical energy supply and storage hub for the Pacific."}],[{"start":131.7,"text":"Sora said Manele’s exit represented a loss of one of the region’s most technically capable leaders."}],[{"start":138.35,"text":"“Many in the Solomon Islands will see this as a victory for self-interested political chicanery with the regular folk picking up the tab in terms of disrupted governance and derailed national priorities,” he said."}],[{"start":150.6,"text":"The exact reasons for Manele’s defenestration remained unclear as a debate ahead of the vote in Honiara did not detail why parliament had lost confidence in him. The prime minister had faced pressure to stand down in recent weeks as he refused to convene parliament."}],[{"start":168.35,"text":"He survived two previous no-confidence votes, but his “government of national unity” frayed in March as it suffered a series of resignations from the coalition."}],[{"start":186.1,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1778154057_1061.mp3"}