The Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands has ruled out a Chinese military base on the Pacific archipelago
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has confirmed he has no intentions of a Chinese military base in the Solomon Islands, after signing an historic security pact with Beijing.
In an interview with The Guardian, Sogavare says a military base with Beijing would make Solomon Islands an “enemy” and “put our country and our people as targets for potential military strikes”.
Sogavare met with Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum, which is taking place in Fiji.
The meeting reportedly lasted 15 minutes, where Albanese said the pair spoke about “our common interests that we have of climate change, dealing with the challenge but also regional security issues”.
It follows Australia’s Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison opting out of talking to Sogavare because of advice from “security and intelligence agencies”.
Sogavare has previously branded threats as an “invasion” following its tightened security arrangements with China.
Placing a pulse on the Pacific
China was denied an invitation at this year’s Pacific Islands Forum. However, U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris gave a virtual address.
The Biden Administration will commit USD $600 million to support an envoy to the forum, infrastructure in local fisheries, and brining peace corps volunteers back to the region.
Harris conceded the U.S. has been missing when it comes to the Pacific but has vowed to “change that”. She says the U.S. wants to “significantly deepen our presence in the Pacific region”.
As part of its Pacific push, the U.S. will open embassies in Tonga and Kiribati. The latter is the closest Pacific island nation to the U.S.
However, Kiribati itself is not attending this week’s forum because of tensions over the secretary-general position. But opposition leaders believe China has also influenced this decision, something that Beijing denies.
TICKER NEWS spoke to Ebony Bennett from The Australia Institute, who says the U.S. is “going to re-engage strongly in the Pacific region”.
Costa is a news producer at ticker NEWS. He has previously worked as a regional journalist at the Southern Highlands Express newspaper. He also has several years' experience in the fire and emergency services sector, where he has worked with researchers, policymakers and local communities. He has also worked at the Seven Network during their Olympic Games coverage and in the ABC Melbourne newsroom.
He also holds a Bachelor of Arts (Professional), with expertise in journalism, politics and international relations. His other interests include colonial legacies in the Pacific, counter-terrorism, aviation and travel.
TikTok users could soon find that the popular social media service is either under new ownership or could be outright banned in the United States.
President Joe Biden signed a bill into law that requires TikTok to find a new owner—or face a ban in the United States.
Over the past several months, Washington D.C. has been under pressure to ban the popular Chinese-owned social media app.
Lawmakers and security experts have long raised concerns that the Chinese government could tap TikTok’s trove of personal data about millions of U.S. users.
TikTok’s CEO said the bill is disappointing and reiterated that the company has committed to challenge it.
David Zhang from China Insider. joins Veronica Dudo to discuss
Threads, the social media platform owned by Meta, is gaining traction with a surge in daily active users, outpacing X in the U.S.
With Threads averaging 28 million daily active users compared to X’s 22 million, Meta’s ambitions to reach a billion users seem within reach despite a slowdown in growth. While X still boasts 550 million monthly active users globally, Threads’ focus on user experience and avoidance of real-time and political content could position it as a formidable competitor moving forward.
This weekend’s entertainment lineup has something for everyone.
Apple TV+ brings “Sugar,” a drama set in New York City, while “Civil War” offers historical intensity.
“Challengers” with Zendaya brings a saucy sport drama to life, and superhero buffs can catch the trailer for “Deadpool and Wolverine” for action-packed fun.
With options spanning drama, history, reality, and superheroes, there’s excitement in store for all this weekend.