If it had not been for the suspicious letter incident involving Palauan Ambassador Adelbai, we would have been able to thank all parties involved and outline the 16-day visit of H.E. Suidani and Mr. Talifil to Japan more than a month ago.
The Palau government has yet to provide any information as to who provided the false information to the Palau government. Since they slandered me and this invitation so explicitly, it is the duty of a responsible sovereign nation to clearly state the source of the information.
もし、パラオのAdelbai大使の怪文書事件がなければ、一月以上前から関係者へのお礼と、スイダニ閣下、タリフィル氏の16日間の訪日について概要をまとめているはずであった。
パラオ政府からは誰が偽情報をパラオ政府に提供したのか、未だに情報提供がない。あれだけ明確に私とこの招聘を誹謗中傷したのであるから、情報源の明示は責任ある主権国家の義務である。
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Ms. Kaori Fukushima, a journalist who deeply supported this invitation, wrote a detailed article for DotWorld. With the author's permission, we have machine-translated it into English. The machine translation has been reviewed and corrections have been made where deemed necessary. Please let me know if you find any mistakes.
今回の招聘に深く協力いただいたジャーナリスト、福島香織氏がDotWorldに詳細な記事を書いてくださった。筆者の許可を得て、機械訳で英文にした。機械訳には目を通し、必要と思われる箇所は修正を入れてある。間違いがあればご教示ください。
台湾から中国に外交スイッチしたソロモン諸島のいま | dotworld｜ドットワールド｜現地から見た「世界の姿」を知るニュースサイト
https://dotworld.press/solomon_islands_diplomatic_switch/
追記 記事をスペースで読み上げました。
インド太平洋ポッドカフェ☕️🇸🇧ソロモン諸島、マライタン日本に来る。16日間の日本滞在が残したもの
https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1gqxvQPOgLzJB?s=20
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In the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, there are concerns that the Sogavare administration's numerous pro-China policies are turning the islands into a dependency of China. The removal from office in February of Daniel Suidani, then governor of Malaita, who had remained critical of China and refused bribes from Chinese companies, is a symbolic event. In October, at the invitation of Dr. Rieko Hayakawa, an expert on security issues in the Pacific island region, and others, Mr. Suidani and his policy advisor, Celsus Tarifilu, visited Japan for two weeks. The purpose of the delegation and the current situation in the Solomon Islands are discussed.
Biography of Hon. Daniel Suidani
Born in 1970 in Malaita, the largest island in the Solomon Islands (Malaita Province), he graduated from the University of Higher Education at the age of 19 and worked as an elementary school teacher, then for a timber and lumber company and an urban construction company. 2019, he ran for the first time for the Malaita Provincial Council and won. In July of the same year, he also ran for the provincial governorship and won. That year, the Sogavare administration severed long-standing diplomatic ties with Taiwan and established diplomatic relations with China. Premier Suidani objected to this and insisted that diplomatic relations with Taiwan be maintained. This conflict was a distant cause of the riots in the capital Honiara in November 2021, and he was ostracized by the Sogavare administration and removed from office in February 2023 after he issued the "Auki Communiqué" advocating Malaita's right to self-determination.
Biography of Mr. Celsus Tarifilu
Born in 1975 in Malaita Province. His grandfather was a prison guard in the colonial government under British rule and was knighted by then Queen Elizabeth. He graduated from the University of the South Pacific in Fiji and earned a master's degree from Victoria University in New Zealand. After working for the United Nations for about 10 years, he worked in Parliament and opposition offices before spending three years in the Policy Division of the Prime Minister's Office in the Sogavare administration. As a bureaucrat, he was involved in the policy formulation of the Sogavare administration and at one point served as a policy advisor to the Prime Minister. However, when the Sogavare administration switched diplomatic channels from Taiwan to China in 2019, he moved to the position of policy advisor to Suidani, who was then governor of Malaita.
Growing sense of crisis over the vassalization of the homeland
The motion for the removal of Suidani submitted by the Speaker of Malaita Province in February of this year did not reflect the will of the Provincial Council or the voters, but was directed by the Minister of Local Affairs of the Sogavare administration. The motion had been made twice before, both times withdrawn in protest by voters, but this third time it was forcefully passed after the police forcefully suppressed the protesters.
The reasons given for the dismissal were that Suidani had demanded money from a Chinese mining company in Malaita, and that he had embezzled public funds from the Malaita government and used them to pay the salary of his personal security guard, which he denied. He believes that "the Chinese behind the Sogavare regime tried to eliminate me."
After being removed from office, Hon. Suidani traveled to the United Nations, the United States, Australia, Canada, and other countries to defend himself, to voice the crisis in his country, and to obtain the knowledge and information necessary for democratic government. Dr. Hayakawa, who learned of Hon. Suidani's activities, planned to invite him to Japan, and with the cooperation of volunteers, he was able to make this visit to Japan a reality.
During their stay in Japan, Suidani and Tarifil visited the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), NGOs that support Pacific island nations, and fishermen to expand their personal networks. They also actively gave interviews to several journalists and media, including the author, and held lectures in an effort to make the current situation in the Solomon Islands widely known to Japanese people. Mr. Suidani, who is determined to run again for the Malaita provincial governorship scheduled for April 17 next year, expresses confidence that he will be elected if the election is held fairly.
Meanwhile, Mr. Tarifilu, who used to be a policy advisor in the Prime Minister's Office, recalled that he became a policy advisor to Mr. Suidani because he was "attracted by Mr. Suidani's charisma," and that "there is no other strong leader who can prevent the Solomon Islands from being annexed by China.
Below are interviews with both gentlemen.
Prime Minister Sogavare, who is dictatorship-minded and paranoid
--What exactly has changed since the switch of Solomon Islands diplomacy from Taiwan to China in 2019?
Suidani: Freedom of speech has been lost. Before, one could criticize the government and hold demonstrations, but now it is impossible to hold demonstrations and the media is controlled. Solomon Island Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC), formerly an independent media outlet, has been placed under the supervision of the Prime Minister's Office. Politicians' election offices are also now supervised by the Office of the Prime Minister, so politicians like myself who have expressed disapproval of the "One China" policy (that mainland China and Taiwan must be ruled inseparably by one nation) are no longer allowed to operate.
--Has the domestic economy improved since the switch to China?
Suidani: The economy has deteriorated and unemployment is perceived to be higher. More and more Chinese companies are moving into the country, but they only employ Chinese people, which is taking jobs away from the locals one by one.
--What is your view of the security and police cooperation agreements signed between the Solomon Islands and China?
Suidani: Solomon Islands has no external threats at the moment, and there is no need to conclude a security agreement with China. People are becoming increasingly concerned about this agreement, which was signed in April without any explanation to the public. In addition, since the police cooperation agreement was signed in July, Chinese police officers have been arriving one after another to conduct military training in the capital Honiara and bring weapons into the country. The public is still uneasy about the agreement, asking, "Who are they trying to crack down on?
--What is your view of the riots that took place in Honiara in 2021?
Suidani: The Malaitans initially demonstrated democratically. They had petitioned the Sogavare administration three times before, but all were ignored, so on their fourth submission, they decided to hold a rally in front of the parliament and demand a direct meeting with the prime minister. However, the prime minister ignored the petitions and ordered the police to fire tear gas canisters into the air, which triggered an outburst of anger and rioting among the citizens, who were becoming increasingly frustrated due to the ongoing difficulty in finding work. The reason for the riot was that the prime minister ignored the petition.
--What did you want to appeal for in the petition?
Suidani: What we were seeking was the implementation of the Townsville Peace Accord (signed on October 15, 2000 in Townsville, Australia, to end the ethnic conflict that arose from the conflict between the people of Dalkanal and Malaita Island). Despite the fact that this agreement allowed for greater autonomy for each state, it has never been implemented.
--What kind of person is Mr. Sogavare from the point of view of Mr. Talifilu, who was involved in policy formulation in the Sogavare administration?
Talifilu: He is a very autocratic and paranoid person. He does not trust the bureaucrats around him and does not try to communicate with them, but he only forgave his nephew, Djokovic, an aide to the prime minister (who recently passed away).
He also often promotes private matters involving his interests as policy. For example, he originally needed to obtain approval from the attorney general to use farmland as an unexploded ordnance disposal site, but he ignored all procedures and spent $50 million (about 7.566 billion yen) in public funds to acquire the land and attract Chinese companies to the area. Furthermore, he took no action against a Chinese-affiliated company that was suspected of forging passports. Even though it is difficult to find evidence supporting the involvement of the Chinese government, it is clear that money has been illegally funneled to Sogavare from Chinese-owned companies. In fact, he has vast real estate and assets that could not be purchased on the prime minister's salary alone, leading to speculation as to the source of the funds.
--Why did Mr. Talifilu leave the Prime Minister's Office and turn to Mr. Suidani as a policy advisor?
Talifilu: As someone who was in charge of alliances with Taiwan and other democracies in the Prime Minister's Office, I felt that the Sogavare administration was disloyal in two ways when it suddenly announced its intention to break off relations with Taiwan.
First, the Solomon Islands is indebted to Taiwan. On the island of Guadalcanal, where the capital Honiara is located, Malaita immigrants have long been persecuted and deprived of their land and property, leading to the outbreak of the Guadalcanal-Malaita ethnic conflict in 2021. It was Taiwan that paid on behalf of the Solomon Islands government the large settlement needed to bring the situation under control.
Second, the diplomatic switch was the subject of much analysis and recommendations from the Prime Minister's Office, the bureaucracy, the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and experts, many of whom pointed out the risks associated with China. However, the prime minister chose only those that were in line with his own wishes and took the decision to cross Taiwan on his own. The legislator who produced the analysis favorable to China was later accused of corruption and lost his position as a legislator, but was appointed by the prime minister as ambassador to China. I could no longer tolerate these practices by the prime minister and decided that my hometown of Malaita must be protected from China. The Chinese approached each cabinet member individually and tried to win them over, bribing even lower-ranking bureaucrats, so one politician after another succumbed. Governor Suidani, however, had firmly rejected bribes and demonstrated leadership, which is why I wanted to support him.
The "Maasina Rule" that you worked on as governor
--Please tell us about your policies when you were governor of Malaita.
Suidani: For years, forests in Malaita were being logged by Malaysian-Chinese companies and exported to China. The management of retail stores, which support the livelihood of Malaita citizens, was also monopolized by 15 Chinese nationals. In the Solomon Islands, the residents were supposed to manage retail stores, but the rule was not being observed. So after I became governor, I set up a retailers' association and put in place measures to support Malaitans so that they could run retail stores.
Talifilu: In 2021, the Auki Communiqué was adopted by the state legislature, rejecting the CCP and its atheistic ideology, and upholding the right to self-determination and freedom of religion and belief in the state of Malaita.
--After the Sogavare administration switched diplomacy to China, Mr. Suidani announced that a vote would be held to determine the will of the population regarding the independence and autonomy of Malaita province. Has the vote taken place? Do the islanders want independence?
Suidani: There have been calls for independence for some time. In the Solomon Islands, there is a traditional idea of "Maasina Rule" (brotherhood). It means, "We will discuss and decide our own affairs among ourselves. This idea was also at the root of the movement for independence from Britain.
I was not seeking independence as a country, but rather to return to the Maasina Rule and hold a referendum to hear the opinions of the people of Malaita, but the Sogavare administration prevented me from doing so, claiming that it would be illegal.
--Was there any direct connection between the "independence" of Malaita and the regime's diplomatic switch to China?
Suidani: Malaita is underdeveloped and many residents have to migrate off the island, so we called on them to unite for development. However, we thought it would be better to get cooperation from Taiwan than from China. Taiwan has less financial resources than China, but it is a good friend and equal partner because it shares the democratic values of the West under good leadership.
--Why do you think you were dismissed as governor?
Suidani: I had often received letters from the Minister of Provincial Affairs criticizing me for "colluding with foreign powers" and "being a pawn of Taiwan. Of course, this was made up, but the minister, at the behest of Prime Minister Sogavare, instructed the Provincial Chairman to submit a motion for his dismissal on February 2. The motion had been filed before, and each time it was withdrawn after voters demonstrated, but this time the demonstrators were suppressed by the police.
--Do you feel your life is in danger after the recall?
Suidani: My children are being harassed and feel in danger because they are being prevented from finding employment. I myself left the country on February 16. I then lost my governorship on March 20, and I have heard rumors that I will be arrested if I return to my country.
Talifilu: We had just been invited to a UN conference by an NGO working on indigenous issues, so I left the country with Mr. Suidani under the guise of attending the conference. Since then, he has been traveling abroad for 6 months.
Willing to Return to Governorship in Upcoming General Election
--Since leaving the Solomon Islands, you have been broadening your knowledge in various places and have decided to run for the general election in April next year. You returned to the Solomon Islands for the first time in six months before coming to Japan this time.
Suidani: I returned to the country because I needed to register in Honiara to run for office. Also, in our country, everyone over the age of 18 has the right to vote if they register as a voter, but many young people do not know this due to poverty, so I taught them how to register. Although there was some concern that I might be arrested, I was greeted by many voters at the airport. Mr. Talifilu also plans to run for the National Assembly.
--What are your chances of winning the general election?
Suidani: Without a doubt, I am 100% confident that I will win the election.
Tarifil: I think I have a great chance, too.
--Please tell us the purpose of your visit to Japan.
Suidani: First, to help the Japanese people understand the current situation in Solomon Islands and the challenges it faces, second, to explore what kind of development assistance I can receive from Japan if I am elected governor again, and third, to learn from Japan how to deal with China. Since the only information transmitted from the Solomon Islands to Japan is the claims of the Sogavare administration, we wanted to make sure that other voices were known.
Talifilu: Japan has provided us with various kinds of support and we have learned a lot from them. We also wanted to let that Japan know that Prime Minister Sogavare's words and actions are not representative of the Solomon Islands. Prime Minister Sogavare recently made a vehement condemnation of the release of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant at the UN General Assembly, but that, too, was not the will of the people of Solomon Islands, but only a representation of China's claim to the island.
--Did your visit to Japan produce any positive results?
Suidani: I was relieved that JICA and the Fisheries Agency had a correct understanding of the current situation. Before Japan, I visited Canada, the U.S., and Australia, but they only wanted to know information about China and showed no interest in the current situation in the Solomon Islands. In Japan, we were able to share mutual understanding and respect, and it was a fruitful stay. I am very satisfied.
--For Japan, the Solomon Islands are a place where memories of World War II, including the Battle of Guadalcanal, remain. How do you feel about being turned into a battlefield by Japan and the U.S. at that time?
Suidani: At the time, the Solomon Islands were placed under British colonial rule, so they were undeniably involved in the war, but the people did not understand why they were fighting.
Talifilu: After the British and American allied forces left, it was Japan that supported the Solomon Islands, and some of the people still say that if Japan had won then, they would have continued to support the Solomon Islands.
Although my uncle was killed in the Japanese attack on the centrally located Tulagi Island, I myself have no negative feelings toward Japan. In fact, the British, who returned after the Japanese evacuated the islands, treated us like slaves, and we still resent them for that. However, it was surprising to see black soldiers playing an active role in the U.S. military, and our independence is no longer a dream for us.
--Is there a connection between the pro-Chinese stance of the Sogavare administration and the history of World War II?
Suidani: Prime Minister Sogavare is a great admirer and influence of the second prime minister, Mamaloni, who is known for his anti-white views. He also believes that only a dictator can rule over 80 ethnic groups with different languages, so he is probably attracted to China (which is a model of dictatorship) in some aspects. I don't think it has anything to do with the history of the Great War.
--Solomon Islands, an aggregation of diverse ethnic groups, currently faces challenges such as ethnic divisions and disparities in wealth and poverty, and its society is not stable. In the future, which would be more desirable: to strengthen unity or to strengthen the autonomy of each island and try to alleviate conflicts while maintaining distance from each other? What do you expect from Japan?
Suidani: What the Solomon Islands is aiming for is unity. To achieve this, we need strong leadership.
Talifilu: The people want unity. However, I am concerned that in recent years the gap between Honiara, the capital, and the rest of the country has widened, and that the successive entry of Chinese companies has destroyed democracy, leading to the dictatorship of the regime. It is necessary for each state to have the right to self-determination and to take the initiative in developing the islands. To this end, we look forward to Japan's cooperation in development. We would very much like to see Japan establish its presence as an axis of opposition to China.
