Flame rise from buildings in Honiara's Chinatown on November 26, 2021 as days of rioting have seen thousands ignore a government lockdown order, torching several buildings around the Chinatown district, including commercial properties and a bank. Photo: AFP

China is closely following the developments in the Solomon Islands and condemns the violence, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Friday, noting that China is confident that the Solomon Islands' government is capable of stabilizing the internal situation. 

Riots in the Solomon Islands continued on Friday, and has affected Chinatown in the country. Chinese nationals there have suffered great loss with their shops smashed, burned and looted. 

Zhao said there have been no reports of Chinese casualties so far. When asked whether China is considering sending troops and police to the Solomon Islands as Australia did, Zhao said he hasn't heard of any request of this nature from the Solomon Islands government, and that he hopes relevant sides will respect the sovereignty of Solomon Islands. 

The Secretary of the Solomon Islands Chinese Association, surnamed Tan, told the Global Times that although robbery and burning occurred everywhere, with Chinatown being severely damaged, people were safe so far. 

Yu Lei, chair professor at the Center for Pacific Island Countries Studies of Liaocheng University, told the Global Times on Friday that some politicians in the country's Malaita island demanded that Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare step down, and even the Australian media have to admit that it was geopolitical competition among major powers.

Many protesters reportedly came from the country's most populous island Malaita. The discontent between Malaita and the Solomon Islands government has existed for a long time due to the unequal distribution of resources, and some Malaita politicians were against the government.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the Solomon Islands and China after the former cut ties with the island of Taiwan, the US has greatly increased its economic assistance to Malaita, up to five times the amount of assistance to the Solomon Islands government, Yu noted. 

The purpose of US' substantial assistance to Malaita island is self-evident: using the internal political conflicts of Solomon Islands to pressure the country to "recover ties" with Taiwan island and drive Chinese mainland political and economic power out of the country, Yu said. 

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare told ABC from Honiara that he stood by the decision to cut ties with Taiwan island, despite fierce and sustained criticism. "That decision is a correct decision, it is legal, it puts Solomon Islands on the right side of history, and is in line with international law," he said.

The establishment of diplomatic ties between China and the Solomon Islands is the right choice, which conforms to the trend of the times and will also stand the test of history, Zhao said, noting that bilateral exchanges have yielded achievements and any attempt to disrupt it is futile.