ソロモン諸島が台湾から中国に外交関係を切り替えたのは2019年9月。2018年4月から2020年5月と、まさにこの期間にソロモンに駐在した遠山茂大使の、霞ヶ関会での講演を読んだ時はショックであった。そしてはやり米国のアプローチはまずかったのだと思った。
遠山茂氏は外務省のチャイナスクールのようで、講演内容は中国寄りに読める。外務省が外交音痴、安全保障音痴であることはもうすでに周知の事実であるが、私は30年以上目の前で見てきた。
1997年に開始した島サミットをきっかけに、日本大使館が太平洋島嶼国に次々と開設したことは喜ばしいが、そこで親中、反米の日本外交が行われているのではないか？
遠山氏の講演内容をざっと機械訳しておく。
The Solomon Islands switched diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China in September 2019.
I was shocked when I read a speech at the Kasumigaseki-kai by Ambassador Shigeru Toyama, who was stationed in the Solomons during this very period, April 2018 to May 2020. And I realized that the U.S. approach was not a good one.
Mr. Shigeru Toyama seems to be a member of the China School of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the content of his speech can be read as being pro-China. It is already well known that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is diplomatically illiterate and security illiterate, which I have seen it first hand for over 30 years.
I am happy to see the opening of Japanese embassies in the Pacific island countries one after another in the wake of the Island Summits that began in 1997, but isn't that where the pro-China, anti-American diplomacy of Japan is taking place?
The following is a rough machine translation of Mr. Toyama's speech.
---
I was posted to Solomon in April 2018 and returned at the end of May 2020, having spent two years and two months at my last post in Solomon, although about 80% of my 42-year tenure as a China specialist since joining the Ministry in 1978 was spent in China-related work. During his tenure, the most notable topic was Solomon's break with Taiwan and the subsequent establishment of diplomatic relations with China. The following is a brief history of Solomon's "change of diplomatic relations" as well as the current status and prospects of Japan-Solomon relations.
1. Good Relations with Taiwan
After gaining independence from the British colony in 1978, Solomon established diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan) in 1983. According to related press reports, Solomon had planned to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, but switched to Taiwan at the last minute. According to one theory, China offered US$10,000 if diplomatic relations were established. Offering US$10,000 from its precious foreign currency reserves was probably the best China could do at the time. Since then, Solomon has maintained diplomatic relations with Taiwan for 36 years.
The relationship between Solomon and Taiwan has been a modest one, but consistently stable. First of all, in the political sphere, the Solomon Islands have a constituency development fund, a government budget that supports development for each parliamentary election, and Taiwan has provided over 20% of this fund. This fund was often misused and was said to be a hotbed of corruption, but it also helped to keep the relationship between Taiwan and Solomon Islands alive. As for Taiwan's assistance to Solomon Islands, Taiwan has continued to support the production of vegetables through agricultural projects, medical staff at the national hospital, Chinese language education at universities, and the acceptance of Solomon Islands students. These exchanges have been widely covered by the local media, and have helped to maintain a sense of familiarity with Taiwan. Both countries advocate democracy, and the fact that they are both island nations has been frequently emphasized.
2. Establishment of Diplomatic Relations with China - Background and Circumstances
However, under the Sogavare administration that came into power following the general election in April of last year, the change in diplomatic relations was taken up as one of the priority issues for consideration. As part of the review process, a task force was formed with a bipartisan group of lawmakers, and an excellent report was prepared, including visits to neighboring countries that have diplomatic relations with China. Most of the members of the task force were pro-China, and as a result, in September last year, the Cabinet decided to sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan and establish diplomatic relations with China without sufficient discussion in the Diet. At the same time, Kiribati also severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan, bringing the number of countries maintaining diplomatic relations with Taiwan to 15 at that time, further narrowing Taiwan's "diplomatic space" in the international community.
At the time, this case was relatively widely covered not only in Japan but also in the Western media. In terms of its basic structure, there can be no doubt that China's mid- to long-term strategy to contain Taiwan's space in the international community and secure a base for China in the international community has taken another step forward.
First, Taiwan's presence in the Solomon Islands was not necessarily large to begin with. I met with the Taiwanese ambassador immediately after I arrived, and I was surprised to hear that there were about 30 Taiwanese living in the Solomon Islands. Taiwan's assistance to the Solomon Islands, as mentioned above, was well known to the population, but it was not the large-scale infrastructure projects that the Solomon Islands government and the majority of the people in Solomon Islands were looking for. In addition, in recent years there has been little private business by Taiwan.
On the other hand, in China, there are already 3,000 to 4,000 mainland Chinese living in the country, and the Solomon Islands economy has been practically dominated by these overseas Chinese, including the general stores in town. China is already Solomon's largest trading partner, with nearly 70% of Solomon's exports going to China. China is already Solomon's largest trading partner, with just under 70% of Solomon's exports going to China, mainly timber and marine products such as sea cucumbers. Therefore, the establishment of diplomatic relations was a natural step given the already close economic ties between the two countries.
The second reason is that the U.S. may have exerted more pressure on Solomon than necessary to maintain relations with Taiwan. As is well known, in World War II, the Solomon Islands fought alongside the U.S. military against Japan as part of the allied forces, but after the war, the U.S. presence in the Solomon Islands was extremely limited. In the last few years, however, the United States has made a sudden move toward the Solomon Islands in order to check China's expansion into the Pacific. Solomon is a weak, least developed country, but its national pride is stronger than most. When the U.S., with whom it had a tenuous relationship, suddenly pressed for the maintenance of relations with Taiwan, with a flicker of large-scale aid, the Solomons felt that this was essentially a strategic convenience on the part of the U.S., and that they were being treated as if they were a pawn. In fact, there were not a few politicians who expressed such opposition to the small office.
3. China's Entry into Solomon Islands in Full Swing
Originally, China had planned to send an official ambassador to the Solomon Islands in February to begin full-scale diplomatic activities, but the coronavirus outbreak has stalled the diplomatic schedule. However, China has already promised to provide large-scale assistance in the form of grant aid, such as the construction of facilities related to the Pacific Games, which will be held in 2023 and the improvement of the water supply system in Honiara, and has also provided substantial emergency aid related to the coronavirus. As mentioned above, at the private level, Chinese businesses already have a large presence in Solomon Islands, and it is expected that private investment will expand rapidly in the future, along with governmental assistance.
On the other hand, there is a lot of concern about the growing Chinese presence in Solomon Islands. There are several reasons for this, but one is the perception that China is a powerful country and does not share the same basic values in terms of democracy and freedom of speech. In case you are wondering, more than 95% of the Solomonic population is Christian, but the fact that religious freedom, including Christianity, is not adequately guaranteed in China is also damaging to China's image. In addition, China's behavior abroad is also self-serving and its methods are quite hard-line. Some worry that Solomon will eventually fall into the hands of the superpower China.
The more immediate impact is, of course, a major change in the economy. In terms of governmental aid, as mentioned above, China is expected to expand its economic cooperation on a considerable scale and in many fields, starting with its support for the Pacific Games. Private sector investment is expected to grow even more rapidly than this. Solomon Islands does not necessarily have a large number of attractive investment projects, and land issues are often an obstacle to development projects. However, it is highly likely that Chinese companies of all sizes will aggressively invest in a wide range of fields, including commerce, resource development, agriculture, and tourism. The establishment of diplomatic relations with China will ease restrictions on visas, remittances, etc., and provide business support and protection for overseas Chinese who have lived in Solomon Islands for many years. There are also concerns that new investment from mainland China will contribute to excessive competition and overheating of business.
...
