Alexandria, VA.: At the start of this month, both Suidani and Talifilu were arrested on three counts of unlawful assembly related to the failed no confidence vote of 2021.
Want to know what it’s like to live in a country in the process of becoming a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) vassal state? Let’s see what happened to two Solomon Islanders—Celsus Talifilu and Daniel Suidani—over the last five years, so you can understand why they were arrested just over a week ago. And why it matters.
In 2019, Mr Talifilu was working as Policy Coordinator for the office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet of Solomon Islands. A good job. An important job.
Then the newly elected Prime Minister of Solomons, Manasseh Sogavare, decided to switch the country’s diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China. Talifilu was so concerned about the decision he quit and went to his home province, Malaita.
Malaita had recently held elections and a former school teacher, Daniel Suidani, was the new Premier. Suidani and his government were also concerned about the growing influence of the PRC—Talifilu joined them. And they did something about it.
DAVID TELLS GOLIATH ‘NO THANK YOU’
On October 17, 2019, the Malaita Province Government (MPG) issued the Auki Communique—named for the capital of Malaita. With one simple line it made them one of the biggest threats faced by Beijing. It announced: “MPG strongly resolves to put in place a Moratorium on Business Licences to new investors connected directly or indirectly with the Chinese Communist Party.”
The Communique gave a range of reasons why, including that the MPG “acknowledges the freedom of religion as a fundamental right … and therefore rejects the Chinese Communist Party—CCP and its formal systems based on atheist ideology”.
Other concerns included “the need to be free from unwarranted interference of persons and therefore reject any notion of a police state” and that the extraction and use of resources must be fair, equitable and sustainable.
It described how CCP-linked political warfare was operating in Solomons and said Malaita wanted none of it. It meant that major CCP projects, including installing Huawei towers, were blocked in Malaita. It was an act of clarity and courage—and marked the Malaitan leadership for relentless targeting by Beijing and its proxies.
It didn’t take long to find out this was a matter of life and death.
THE ILLNESS
Premier Suidani fell ill and required treatment not available in Solomons. Normally the national government would assist, but messages were passed to Suidani that for the aid to be forthcoming, he would have to drop his opposition to the CCP.
Suidani refused.
Australia said they would give him a visa to go to Australia for treatment, but they wouldn’t assist financially. Being an honest politician, he didn’t have the $100,000 the hospital wanted upfront.
FRIENDS
The CCP works to isolate targets, making them easier to pick off. In the case of Suidani and Talifilu, Beijing’s plans were repeatedly stymied. As much as this story is about the CCP working to divide and destroy, it is also about how that can be countered with honesty, courage and goodwill. Informed of the dire health situation of Suidani situation by a friend, an Indian acquaintance reached out to President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan.She personally intervened on humanitarian grounds, and Suidani received the medical care he needed in Taipei.
OPERATION VASSAL STATE
Meanwhile, China was consolidating its position in Solomons. In August 2021, the pro-PRC Prime Minister Sogavare signed a document giving 39 out of the 50 members of parliament a payout from a Chinese slush fund. At the time The Sunday Guardian reported: “One close observer noted that [39] is the number, with a small buffer, required to change the Constitution. Sogavare is on record as wanting to move the next election from 2023 to 2024, something that would require a constitutional change.”
This is exactly what then happened, with Sogavare and others in the pro-PRC faction using the extra time to consolidate.
They needed it. Opposition was growing to PRC-linked activities and corruption. As Hon. Peter Kenilorea Jr., former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade said at the time: “We in the Pacific Islands say we are on the front line of climate change—we are also on the front line of the aggression from the Chinese Communist Party. The political warfare is on. The geopolitical front line is in our tiny nation of the Solomon Islands, and even within the provinces within the Solomons. We have one province [Malaita] that has been targeted and harassed—this is a real everyday occurrence.”
2021 VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE
It came to a head on October 27, 2021. Local proxies of the pro-PRC factions tried to put forward a vote of no confidence against Suidani in the Malaita legislature.
According to Kenilorea: “Thousands of Malaita Province people took to the streets in Auki in a powerful show of solidarity in support for Premier Daniel Suidani. Villagers with very little money contributed towards purchase of fuel for transportation into Auki. The people called on their respective members of the provincial assembly to support Premier Suidani.”
The police brokered a withdrawal of the motion and it was withdrawn on the same day it was to be put forward. The member who was to table it apologized for his actions and asked forgiveness for working against the will of the people. Premier Suidani apologized to him for the actions of the crowd, and thanked him for withdrawing the motion.
Remember this event—it’ll come up later.
RIOTS
Anger against pro-PRC Prime Minister Sogavare exploded the next month. In November 2021, there were demonstrations in the capital, that turned into riots. Much of the city’s Chinatown burned down.
Within a few days it flared out and locals were cleaning up their streets. But political tensions were high, and it looked like Sogavare might step down.
Then Australia sent in troops to “restore order” and, effectively, secure Sogavare’s position.
It gave an opening for China to send in its own forces and for the two countries to sign a security cooperation agreement. The draft says that, with the consent of the Solomon Islands government, PRC forces can come into the country to maintain social order and protect Chinese citizens and major projects.
TRYING TO ISOLATE THE TARGET: PART ONE
By February 2023 pro-PRC elements had managed to make changes in the police force and there was another, this time successful, vote of no confidence against Suidani.
One of the first actions of the new government in Malaita was to “axe” the Auki Communique and welcome in the PRC.
In March 2023, Suidani, who had been invited to speak at a United Nations affiliated environmental event in New York, had his application for a US visa denied.
That same month, the national government disqualified Suidani from his elected seat on the grounds that he didn’t recognize China’s version of the One China Policy.
MORE FRIENDS
Again strangers stepped up. Suidani received bipartisan Congressional support for his visa reapplication. Congressman Neal Dunn M.D. (R-Florida) noted, “The denial of Daniel Suidani’s VISA application is suspicious and unusual. Mr. Suidani displayed tremendous courage in barring CCP-linked companies from his province while serving as Premier. He should be welcomed to the U.S. with open arms, not with more hurdles.” Then Congressman Ed Case (D-Hawaii, co-chair of the Pacific Islands Caucus) and Congresswoman Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa, Co-Chair Pacific Islands Caucus) sent a letter of support to Secretary of State Blinken.
Suidani received his visa and went to New York. By this time there was interest in having him come to D.C. More people of courage and goodwill appeared.
The YouTube channel China Uncensored launched a fundraiser, raising over $27,000 to cover Suidani and Talifilu’s costs.
And then GoFundMe froze the funds, no reason given.
Hours before China Uncensored host Chris Chappell was to testify along with Suidani and Talifilu at the Congressional Executive Commission on China, the funds were coincidentally unfrozen.
ELECTIONS
Elections were finally held in Solomons in April 2024. Suidani won his seat by a wide margin. The man who had replaced him as premier and axed the Auki communique lost his seat.
Sogavare was re-elected by a slim margin and came back as Finance Minister, with his former Foreign Minister (the man who did much of the negotiating with the PRC) becoming Prime Minister.
TRYING TO ISOLATE THE TARGET: PART TWO
At the start of this month, both Suidani and Talifilu were arrested on three counts of unlawful assembly related to the failed no confidence vote of 2021. Remember that one? The peaceful one in which everyone ended up apologizing to each other?
The arrest process was also unusual. According to Talifilu: “In the beginning of the process to take my finger print the police asked me whether I am guilty, not guilty or do not know. I replied I am not guilty. After the finger printing they took a picture of me holding the charges. After that they bailed me out. However I was not given a copy of the charges. What the police said was that the charges will have to be signed by the magistrate before a copy is given to me. I have not been given a copy yet.”
The court date is October 21st.
WHY NOW?
Talifilu ran for the national parliament and lost by a small margin. He is challenging the outcome on bribery grounds and—in spite of attempts to get it thrown out—that case is set to go to trial on February 5, 2025. Also, Suidani’s challenge to his disqualification is moving through the courts.
These charges will sap Talifilu and Suidani of time and resources—and by trying to paint them as “rioters” possibly isolate them from those who have supported them in the past. Classic lawfare.
Meanwhile, China is marching ahead in its plans for Solomons. Beijing is considering extending Honiara airport so it can take larger planes—including direct from China (this is the site of Henderson Field, which many Americans died securing and protecting during the Battle for Guadalcanal). A Chinese firm is upgrading an international port on Guadalcanal. The Huawei towers are going in. And China is even sniffing around the Bina harbour project in Malaita.
BOTTOM LINE
Currently in Solomons there is no downside to taking PRC money and there are major risks—as Suidani and Talifilu can attest—to resisting. People are taking note.
But what’s happening to Suidani and Talifilu also shows what the CCP is afraid of: people of honesty and courage coming together, a functioning legal system, an exposure and prosecution of corruption and an independent media to report on it all.
So, thanks to the CCP, we know what to do—double down on everything it doesn’t want to happen. The future of Suidani and Talifilu is our future as well.
Cleo Paskal is Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies and columnist with The Sunday Guardian.