Dear Editor,

To be honest, I am as distraughted as any Solomon Islander who considers the recent developments in our country as outrageous.
I was hoping that the decision would be tabled as a motion and have every mandated MPs' points of view on the issue before voting on it in parliament and not just the cabinet.
The government probably knew very well the implications of such decisions.
They, however, decided to move on with the outcome as we all now know.
Money or more of it was probably the driving force behind this ill-advised move.
Whether that is forthcoming, as we know China makes a lot of empty promises they have never kept, is the major question here.
Moreover, if those sweet talk ever come to fruition, the question of whether we would be able to repay those dollars is the harder question we need to ask ourselves.
Maybe the above points have been considered on all sides of the equation already, before the decision was made on Monday.
This can only be anyone's guess.
Now to the US Senator's concern, which is a serious one indeed.
During the process of making this tough decision, I observed that our traditional development partners, including the US were terribly disturbed by this.
I ask the question, why?
Are we the only Pacific country that would significantly disturb the status quo once the decision to switch was made?
Are we the only Pacific country seeking to make a diplomatic relationship with the PRC, whilst our brothers and sisters don't?
When our Pacific neighbours decided to recognize the PRC than the ROC, were similar sentiments raised against them as well?
I believe there is a lot of hypocrisy being played out by both the US and all our traditional development partners when it comes to the ROC/PRC issue.
You see, they want us to remain with the ROC, yet, they also do not recognize them as an independent nation.
They are also denying the ROC of a lot of things, whilst embracing the PRC, for purely economic interests.
They usually see Taiwan as the culprit who dished out money and corrupted our country, in terms of good governance, yet reluctantly assist us from time to time with their aid with a lot of strings attached.
Were they able to do what they wanted to do to the Solomon Islands with countries that sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan?
I see a lot of bullying and crushing anyone on one's pathway here, which is not good for all of us.
While strongly condemning the move our country is taking, I do not see any rationale (beside the assumed ones) behind the attacks labelled at us all this time.
In all fairness, all countries relinquishing their bilateral relations with Taiwan must be viewed in the same way the US is seeing the Solomon Islands as well.
On the other hand, Pacific countries having bilateral relations with China must be seen in the same manner too.
One cannot play double standards and expect everybody else to follow suit.
Only a fool would follow such a person.
Once again, whilst totally disagreeing to the move made by our government, it is also unreasonable for countries like the US to hand pick and take a heavy handed approach against our country.

Yours sincerely,


Jackson Ray