Tag - solomon-islands

 
 

SOLOMON ISLANDS

Solomon Islanders queue up to vote outside a polling station in Honiara on Wednesday. The election could reshape regional security, with citizens effectively choosing if their Pacific nation will deepen ties with China.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 17, 2024
China and Taiwan ties hang in the balance in Solomon Islands vote
While domestic issues will be key to voters’ choices, the result will have repercussions for the islands’ ties with China.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on July 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 15, 2024
Opposition figurehead decries China's 'alarming' sway in Solomon Islands
The archipelago is the unlikely focal point of a diplomatic scramble pitting a rising China against Western rivals.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 25, 2024
New Zealand troops to help Solomon Islands in election
New Zealand said it will dispatch defense personnel, helicopters and a naval ship to the Solomon Islands to assist in a national election due next month.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (far left) and the prime minister of Samoa, Fiame Naomi Mataafa (far right), meet in Apia, the capital of Samoa, on Feb. 10.
COMMENTARY
Feb 21, 2024
Japan plays a game of Pacific islands geopolitical chess
The influx of Chinese investment and activities have introduced risk for some Pacific island nations, moves which Japan cannot ignore.
Flags of Solomon Islands and China flutter near the Tiananmen Gate in Beijing on July 11, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 17, 2024
China helps Pacific Islands with policing, not defense: ambassador
Solomon Islands and Kiribati switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 2019, with Nauru joining just after Taiwan's election.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare at U.N. headquarters in New York on Sept. 22
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 28, 2023
Solomons leader says he spurned U.S. summit 'lecture'
The pro-China prime minister severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 2019, unlocking large sums of Beijing aid and investment.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare addresses the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 23, 2023
Solomon Islands leader 'appalled' by Japan on Fukushima water
Addressing the U.N. General Assembly, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare warned of effects on his South Pacific archipelago.
Pacific Island Forum Secretary General Henry Puna
WORLD / Politics
Sep 19, 2023
Pacific island nations to hold second summit with Biden next week
Henry Puna of the Pacific Islands Forum said the region had gone from a period of neglect to one of strategic interest, competition and "manipulation."
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 3, 2023
Reimagining global development
With the global economy teetering on the edge of a financial crisis, it is time for emerging-market and developing economies to revise their development strategies.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2023
Japan envoy discusses security in first visit by foreign minister to the Solomon Islands
Yoshimasa Hayashi said Japan was 'watching the developments' of a security pact the Solomon Islands signed with China last year.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 22, 2022
Power cut as 7.0 quake hits Solomon Islands
A tsunami warning had been issued for an area of the Solomon Islands coast, but authorities later said the threat had passed.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Oct 4, 2022
Solomon Islands rejected draft U.S.-Pacific deal over indirect references to China
'We don't want to be placed in a position that we have to choose sides,' said Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 12, 2022
Solomon Islands’ leader, a friend of China, gets an election delayed
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare will face voters at what could be a more advantageous time for him, after the Solomon Islands hosts the Pacific Games.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 5, 2022
Unpredictable Solomon Islands fuels U.S. concern as China's influence grows
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's unpredictable diplomacy will make it hard for Washington to make up lost ground with the island nation as Beijing seeks to expand its security presence.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 3, 2022
Biden to host Pacific Island leaders as China courts region
The White House invited 12 Pacific Islands countries, including the Solomon Islands, which in April struck a security pact with China, for the meeting set for late September.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 31, 2022
Solomon Islands suspends all naval visits
The country has suspended visits from all foreign navies, citing a need to review approval processes, after a U.S. Coast Guard vessel was unable to refuel at its port.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 27, 2022
Solomon Islands refuses to allow U.S. ship to make port call
The move was seen as another sign of deteriorating relations between Washington and the Pacific nation, which is pursuing deeper ties with China.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2022
Self-Defense Forces member attacked in Solomon Islands
The injured man was a 27-year-old media spokesman on the MSDF's Kirisame destroyer, which was visiting as part of a regional training exercise, a Japanese Embassy official said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2022
Japan and U.S. vow to enhance ties with Solomon Islands amid China clout
Senior U.S. and Japanese officials reiterate their countries' commitment to reinvesting in relationships with Pacific island nations amid China's increasing influence in the region.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 25, 2022
Caroline Kennedy and U.S. State Department No. 2 to visit Solomons
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Kennedy, the U.S. ambassador to Australia, plan to visit next month as Washington battles for influence with Beijing.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on