China’s Huawei has signed a deal to build 161 telecoms towers across the Solomon Islands in a sign of strengthening ties between the Pacific nation and Beijing just months after they agreed a controversial security deal.
China signed a security and economic pact in April with the Solomon Islands that ratcheted up geopolitical tensions in the Pacific and triggered a stern reaction from the US and Australia in a bid to counter Beijing’s growing influence in the region.
The contract between the Solomon Islands and Huawei will be funded by the Export-Import Bank of China, which leads the country’s state investments overseas. The bank will loan almost Rmb450mn ($66mn) to the country over a 20-year period at a 1 per cent interest rate to fund the project.