A YEARS-long saga mixing big-power rivalry, Chinese money and delayed national elections will reach a conclusion of sorts when the Pacific Games open on Sunday in the remote Solomon Islands.

About 5,000 athletes and officials from 24 Pacific nations are descending on poverty-stricken capital Honiara for the Olympic-style event.

Over two weeks, athletes will compete for gold in two dozen sports from archery and bodybuilding to va’a, or canoe racing.

It is the biggest sports event ever hosted by the Solomons, a string of islands about 2,000km off Australia’s northeast coast.

Yet the intrigue extends far beyond sport.

The archipelago has been in the crosshairs of United States-China tensions since Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taiwan in 2019.

China has rapidly strengthened ties since, signing a secretive security pact with the Solomons last year and sparking Western fears Beijing could be seeking a strategic military foothold.

China is also competing with US allies including Australia for diplomatic influence, notably financing a swathe of new facilities for the Games.

China has financed and built five of the sports facilities, including a 10,000-seat arena with a gleaming blue running track to host the athletics events – a sharp contrast to the dusty roads and flimsy homes in Honiara’s poorer suburbs.

“The centrepiece of the Games is a huge and very impressive stadium, so that reflects the very concrete engagement by China,” said Meg Keen, director of the Sydney-based Lowy Institute think tank’s Pacific Islands programme.

Ramped-up security

China has ploughed in about US$53 million (RM248.3 million) for the sporting venues, which it has committed to maintain for two years, Keen told AFP.

It would also spend an unknown amount in areas such as additional policing and security equipment, she said.

To ensure the Games pass peacefully, Australia has sent 100 police officers and 350 defence personnel to assist the local force.

About 90 military officers from New Zealand are also helping.

China was set to expand its small security team of about half a dozen people in Honiara, Keen said, estimating it could double in size, though no figures have been released.

Organisers put the cost of hosting the Games at about 2.5 billion Solomon Islands dollars (RM1.3 billion).

But the island state’s opposition said the multi-sports event would exact a democratic price.

In 2022, Sogavare pushed a change to the constitution through parliament, shifting elections from the end of this year until before the end of April 2024.

He argued the country could not host the Games and general elections in quick succession.

‘Terrible judgment’

Opposition leader Matthew Wale called that “a terrible excuse”.

“I don’t think the Games themselves are the real grounds for the postponement,” he said, accusing the government of acting out of fear it would lose the election.

“I think they are assuming people will feel good from the Games and therefore vote them back into office.”

Wale urged the prime minister to be transparent about its security pact with China.

“We don’t want to arouse the wrong attention from anybody. Signing secret military or security agreements, which the prime minister did, puts us in that place,” Wale said.

“America has no idea what it is, so it needs to be prepared for all options in case there is something with military implications.

“That is a terrible judgment by the prime minister.”

The money invested in sports facilities would have been better spent on healthcare and education, Wale said.

“The Games have been a magnet to attract government resources to be poured into Honiara, so there is a sense of general neglect of rural areas,” he said.

Mixed reactions

Anticipation was building in Honiara on the eve of the Games, but the event’s media coordinator Jeremy Inifiri said there was some scepticism from the public.

“To be frank, there are still mixed reactions,” he said.

“There was a lot of negativity, especially on social media, mostly over China and the geopolitics.”

Test events at the new stadium attracted crowds of around 6,000, he said.

“Slowly, everyone is getting into the feel of sports – starting to accept the facilities are here for our benefit, not for political benefits,” he said.

For veteran weightlifter Jenly Wini, who won the Solomons’ first-ever Commonwealth Games medal in 2018, it is a rare chance to compete in front of a home crowd.

“This will be the first Pacific Games the Solomon Islands has hosted, so it will be a bit of history for the country,” the 40-year-old said. – AFP, November 17, 2023.