SYDNEY: The Solomon Islands has secured a $66 million loan from China to fund the tech giant Huawei Construction of 161 telecommunications towers across the Pacific nation, its government said on Thursday. This is the first large-scale funding from Beijing to the country since the signing of a secret security agreement in April.
The island nation’s growing financial and security ties with China have raised concerns from the US and its allies, including AustraliaWhich had agreed to build six telecom towers in the country.
Solomon It will receive a 20-year concessional loan from the state-linked Export-Import Bank of China, which will fully fund the construction of Huawei’s towers, in what the government called a “historic financial partnership”. About half the towers will be built before the country hosts pacific island game In November 2023, according to the statement of Govt. The government said the towers would allow Solomon Islanders, especially in rural areas, to watch the games, even if they could not travel to the capital, Honiara.
Western officials have warned that China could use a security deal to build a military base in the country – the prime ministers of some Pacific nations, Manasseh Sogaware, repeatedly denied. The country switched diplomatic relations from Taipei to Beijing in 2019. A spokesman for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said they were aware of the telecommunications deal and supported infrastructure investments that “avoid the volatile debt burden”.
The island nation’s growing financial and security ties with China have raised concerns from the US and its allies, including AustraliaWhich had agreed to build six telecom towers in the country.
Solomon It will receive a 20-year concessional loan from the state-linked Export-Import Bank of China, which will fully fund the construction of Huawei’s towers, in what the government called a “historic financial partnership”. About half the towers will be built before the country hosts pacific island game In November 2023, according to the statement of Govt. The government said the towers would allow Solomon Islanders, especially in rural areas, to watch the games, even if they could not travel to the capital, Honiara.
Western officials have warned that China could use a security deal to build a military base in the country – the prime ministers of some Pacific nations, Manasseh Sogaware, repeatedly denied. The country switched diplomatic relations from Taipei to Beijing in 2019. A spokesman for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said they were aware of the telecommunications deal and supported infrastructure investments that “avoid the volatile debt burden”.