How a medical evacuation exposed Solomon Islands’ China challenge

Tensions are mounting after a prominent opponent of the country’s ‘One China’ policy sought treatment in Taiwan.

Daniel Suidani, the premier of Malaita – the Solomon Islands’ largest province – is in hospital in Taiwan receiving treatment for a suspected brain tumour. But the influential politician is also under fire from the Pacific nation’s government over a medical evacuation that has underlined the deep divisions over a 2019 decision to switch diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing. Suidani, who has emerged as one of the Solomon Islands’ most prominent China critics since the country ended its 36-year alliance with Taiwan, arrived in Taipei on May 26 in a trip the government has condemned as “unauthorised”. That decision to shift diplomatic ties to China – known locally as “the switch” – remains unpopular and is mired in allegations that corrupt influence by Taiwan and China helped shape the decision.