The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) flagship current affairs program “Four Corners” last Monday purported to review recent developments in relations between China and Solomon Islands, while echoing US and Australian government propaganda over the impoverished island state.
As it professed to expose foreign interference in Solomon Islands’ politics, the broadcast made no mention whatsoever of the most blatant violations of the country’s sovereignty—US funding and political support for violent separatist organisations in the province of Malaita, together with Washington’s threats to invade the country if it houses a Chinese military base. Remarkably, the United States was not once mentioned in the 45-minute program.
The broadcast, titled “Pacific Capture: How Chinese money is buying the Solomons,” portrayed Beijing’s aid and investments in the Pacific…
