The contentious security deal between the Solomon Islands and Beijing is a sign the Pacific nation is exploiting “Great Power” competition between China and democratic allies in the region, according to a diplomacy expert.
Joseph Siracusa, adjunct professor of international diplomacy at Curtin University, said smaller nations would play “small power politics” when wedged between bigger countries attempting to gain influence over a region.
At the same time, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been leveraging its Belt and Road Initiative to carve out a stake in the South Pacific by offering infrastructure deals to many developing countries.
“What the Chinese are doing is classic British diplomacy in the 19th century, and the United States in the early 20th century between Britain and France,” he told The Epoch Times. “It’s about leveraging money and finances to get a foothold.”
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