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introduction
In the early hours of 5 June 2000, a burst of gunfire pierced the quiet night sky of the Solomon Islands. Malaita hawks captured the capital, Honiara, forcing Prime Minister Ulufa'alu to resign.
If the two factions do not fight like this, the common people will suffer. In particular, hundreds of overseas Chinese who are far from the motherland, some of them immigrants in their early years, and have joined the nationality here, and some are personnel of Chinese-funded institutions here.
The situation is getting worse and worse, as a member of the military aid mission here, Australia and other countries announced the evacuation of overseas Chinese; Taiwan's "pseudo-embassy" also announced the dispatch of warships to evacuate overseas Chinese, and said that all compatriots could take it.
(Solomon Islands)
But when overseas Chinese on the mainland approached them for help, they were ruthlessly rejected. China has not established diplomatic relations with all countries and cannot protect overseas Chinese through direct diplomatic channels. Frightened, they immediately turned to the Chinese embassies in nearby countries for help.
Will they be able to get home?
1. Never sleep, multi-pronged to ensure the smooth evacuation of overseas Chinese
There are more than 500 overseas Chinese in the Solomon Islands, most of them immigrants from Guangdong, Fujian, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as mainland businessmen in the region.
Most of them have worked hard here for many years and have an inseparable industry. As a last resort, I really can't leave.
However, armed men have taken control of the two major islands of Solomon, with traffic paralyzed and gunfire in the capital. One after another, people have lost their lives in the conflict. Criminals also took the opportunity to fish in troubled waters, robbed at gunpoint, and kidnapped.
(Scene of the riots in Solomon's capital)
At that time, China had not established diplomatic relations with all countries and could not directly evacuate overseas Chinese through diplomatic means, and overseas Chinese were panicked in their hearts, and they were afraid that no one would take care of them.
Ambassador Zhao Zhenyu of Papua New Guinea (Papua New Guinea) received help from overseas Chinese in the country next door, and immediately contacted the person in charge of the domestic Chinese-funded institution and asked Shi Zhongqin and Zhang Junqiang to help register the situation of overseas Chinese.
At the same time, Ambassador Zhao hurriedly reported the situation to China.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set up an emergency centre, which operates 24 hours a day. Several mainland embassies in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea actively cooperated; The leaders of the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and COSCO Company are also on duty around the clock and coordinate efficiently.
Ambassador Zhao and Shi Zhongqin built a bridge of information between the Solomon diaspora and the relevant departments in China. At that time, more than 30 people expressed their request to return to China.
(Chinatown after Solomon was ransacked by mobs)
Ambassador Zhao took the lead in formulating three plans, the first is that the government directly sends transportation to pick up overseas Chinese, the second is to contact the embassy in Australia to lease transportation to evacuate overseas Chinese, and the third is to request Austria and New Zealand to assist us in evacuating overseas Chinese through the mainland embassy.
On June 7, countries such as Australia and New Zealand began to evacuate, and Solomon became even more panicked. Ambassador Zhao first launched the simplest and easiest third option.
The mainland embassies in Australia and New Zealand contacted the governments of these two countries respectively and asked them to evacuate the mainland nationals with Solomon when they evacuated.
At the same time, Zhong Jianhua, Director General of our Consular Department, urgently met with the ambassadors of the two countries to China, expressed the same intention, and made it clear that the expenses should be borne by the Chinese government. A two-pronged approach.
(Ambassador Zhao Zhenyu coordinates the evacuation of overseas Chinese)
The ambassadors of both countries stated that their aircraft and vessels gave priority to ensuring their nationals and citizens of the countries entrusted with consular protection. If space is available, it is willing to provide convenience to Chinese expatriates.
While contacting Shi Zhongqin to run the third plan, Ambassador Zhao studied the other two options in case of accidents.
Although we do not have diplomatic relations with our country, Ambassador Zhao invited Solomon High Commissioner Philip Kapini in Papua New Guinea several times when he held events in Papua New Guinea, and this time he asked him to help facilitate our evacuation of overseas Chinese, which is not abrupt.
However, when the war started, the officials were not necessarily easy to make, and the opposition put the prime minister under house arrest. At this time, it may be more useful to find the opposition.
As a precaution, Ambassador Zhao also asked Capini to use his personal connections to find him the office phone number of the coup leader Andrew Norrie and speak directly with him.
(Market in the capital Honiara)
Andrew was surprised and friendly, and said that he could call him directly if he had trouble evacuating. Doing the work in front has indeed reduced a lot of trouble for the later evacuation of overseas Chinese. It has to be said that this is the courage and wisdom of diplomats.
However, what was unexpected was that the Taiwan side did everything possible to obstruct the liaison work of Shi Zhongqin and others. Taiwan's so-called "Chinese Chamber of Commerce" slandered Zhang Junqiang and Shi Zhongqin for inciting Chinese to flee, preventing them from continuing to contact overseas Chinese, and threatening to have local police arrest them.
They also sent a group of people to the door to find fault, and were pushed back by Shi Zhongqin. As a result, the gang still wandered around Shi Zhongqin's residence for twenty or thirty minutes before leaving unwillingly. Shi Zhongqin and Zhang Junqiang continue to venture out to contact overseas Chinese.
On June 10~11, the armed conflict in Solomon escalated, and the number of expatriates demanding evacuation soared from more than 30 to 150. Australian and New Zealand warships arrogantly refused to board Chinese diaspora.
(Australian Evacuation Warship)
On the 12th, we communicated again with Australia and New Zealand, the warships could not be loaded, it was always okay to send military aircraft to help China evacuate overseas Chinese, the cost was paid by the Chinese government, but the other party politely refused.
There is no way to go! That night, the embassy in Australia found that 550 nautical miles from Solomon, there was a COSCO "Yangjiang" freighter, which was on its way from New Zealand to Yokohama, Japan. Proposed whether the company could be asked to assist in the evacuation of overseas Chinese.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Transport immediately coordinated and decided to quickly send the "Yangjiang" to the port of Honiara to pick up the overseas Chinese and evacuate them to the neighboring port of Papua New Guinea to Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea.
After 4 p.m. the next day, the Yangjiang picked up Chinese compatriots in the port of Honiara. Under the mediation of Ambassador Zhao, Papua New Guinea sent the secretary general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the director of immigration to Port Moresby to welcome the Chinese nationals and agreed to stay there for seven days.
(Picture and text are not related)
After more than 50 hours of sailing, the "Yangjiang" arrived at Port Moresby on the night of the 15th. When more than a hundred overseas Chinese saw the embassy on the pier, "Warmly welcome Chinese compatriots!" One by one, tears burst into tears with excitement.
Next, the embassy held a reception for the overseas Chinese. It is also recommended that the country send a special plane to Papua New Guinea to pick up overseas Chinese, because the overseas Chinese are physically and mentally exhausted after a series of tosses and need to rest well. If they are allowed to find a way to return to their home country on their own, it will be difficult and long to apply for a visa.
On the morning of the 18th, a Boeing 777 special plane of China Southern Airlines arrived at Port Moresby International Airport. Regardless of the weekend, Ambassador Zhao contacted the deputy secretary-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for urgent coordination.
On the morning of the 19th, they made an exception and set up a joint office working group at the airport, including diplomatic, immigration, customs, shipping, airport and other departments to apply for air permits for our special aircraft and fast customs clearance for overseas Chinese.
(Ambassador Zhao Zhenyu boarded the plane to bid farewell to overseas Chinese)
At 9:30, the plane flew to Guangzhou Airport to send the overseas Chinese back to the arms of the motherland.
What kind of place is this terrifying Solomon Islands?
2. Solomon Islands' past and present
Solomon Islands is very interesting, islands and countries use the same name. More than 900 islands make up a scenic picture, and if there are no riots, this is a very good place to visit.
It is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, only 485 kilometers from Papua New Guinea to the west, 1600 kilometers from Australia to the southwest, and Vanuatu across the sea to the southeast.
Solomon Islands has a land area of 28,400 square kilometers, behind Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand in Oceania. There are many volcanoes, rivers, tropical rainforest climate, hot all year round, the average annual temperature is 28 °C.
(View of Solomon Islands)
Guadalcanal, where the capital Honiara is located, is the largest, with 6,475 square kilometers. Of the country's approximately 720,000 people, Melanesians are close to 95 percent
These people lived freely here more than 3,000 years ago. In 1568, a group of Spanish do-gooders arrived here, so named because of the excellent scenery, reminiscent of the place where treasures were hidden in the Bible.
This discovery broke their tranquility, in the 16~19th century, the Dutch, German, and British colonists in Europe competed for this "fat meat", and the British controlled it for more than 80 years. It was captured by Japan during World War II, and after Japan's defeat, it was returned to Britain.
On July 7, 1978, Solomon Islands won its independence through a struggle.
(Australian Garrison Tanks)
The country does not have its own army, only more than 800 policemen, and can only rely on foreign aid for many things. Australia has become their biggest donor.
From July 2003 to June 2017, security was maintained by foreign aid missions. This assistance mission is composed of Australia, New Zealand and other countries, called the Regional Assistance Mission (RAMSI).
Their situation is more complicated, with dozens of tribes living on more than 900 islands. And the residents of Guadalcanal and Malaita have always been at odds.
In 2000, Prime Minister Ulufa'alou was a native of Malaita Island, and his government inevitably took care of his hometown in its policies.
At that time, the Malaitas acquired a large amount of land through buying and selling on the capital island of Guadalcanala, and the locals were not compensated, which caused strong dissatisfaction among the Guadalcanal people and tried their best to drive them out.
(View of Solomon Islands)
So both sides organized armed forces, often brushing guns and firing fire. Over time, the problem was not solved, and finally developed into an armed coup. It is also the origin of the frightening moment of overseas Chinese in those years.
But now the overseas Chinese are much more confident than they were then!
Third, China's evacuation of overseas Chinese has gone from walking on thin ice to calmly and unhurriedly
With the passage of time, China's national strength has increased, and its influence in the world has also increased. Our protection of the lives and property of overseas Chinese and overseas Chinese has also become increasingly prominent.
In April 2006, Solomon rioted again, and this time the Chinese side did not plan a whole plan as in 2000, but chartered flights to transfer overseas Chinese from the Solomon Islands to Papua New Guinea in four times, and then the domestic government chartered a plane to transport 310 Chinese to Guangdong.
In 2008, the mainland already had ships escorting ships in the Gulf of Aden. When war broke out in Chad in January of that year, our embassy quickly evacuated more than 300 overseas Chinese and sent them to nearby Cameroon and Gabon in two batches.
(Chinese evacuation scenario)
In February 2011, there was unrest in Libya. The Air Force dispatched four Il-76 military aircraft to directly fly to Libya to evacuate overseas Chinese. This time, China is using both land, sea and air, and the frigate "Xuzhou" is undertaking protection tasks.
On February 28, 2015, Saudi Arabia suffered air strikes. The next day, China sent a warship to the Yemeni port of Aden to evacuate mainland citizens.
In November 2021, the Solomon Islands was once again incited by riots, and this time China changed its approach.
(Solomon riots)
At the request of the Solomon Government, we assisted them with multiple batches of police materiel and sent police advisers to train them to improve their own policing capabilities.
In several riots in the Solomon Islands in 2000, 2006, 2021, thugs always attacked commercial facilities in Chinatown first, but now such things will not be repeated.
China protected the Solomon Overseas Chinese, the first time it was busy and hard-working, the second time it was familiar with the road, and the third time it simply provided material and training to improve their ability to quell the riots.
(Joyful Overseas Chinese)
With the increase of national strength, the status and sense of security of overseas Chinese in the world are increasing.
Fourth, why is Australia's arrogance to China today?
Chinese will never forget their arrogance when we asked Australia to help us evacuate our nationals in 2000. It's not okay to give money, just want to see your jokes.
Today, uncharacteristically, they are particularly concerned about our every move in Solomon Islands. Its purpose is to cooperate with the United States to suppress China's development.
On September 21, 2019, Solomon Islands established diplomatic relations with China and China, while severing official ties with Taiwan. This upset Americans, and Australia also knocked over the vinegar bottle in its heart.
For years, Australia controlled the economic and military spheres of Solomon through aid. It also seeks to control the diplomacy of the host country and not allow others to intervene.
(Flag of Solomon Islands)
However, the country is an independent sovereign state, and it has to consider its own security and development. If someone can provide them with better assistance, why not?
The month after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and China, Prime Minister Sogavare visited China upon invitation. They joined the Belt and Road and received a lot of investment. Many Chinese went to Solomon to invest and participate in their nation-building.
Solomon's benefits from this equal diplomatic relationship stand in stark contrast to Australia's focus on its own interests. In March 2022 and March 2023, China sent two medical teams to support Solomon Islands.
Although the mainland has repeatedly reiterated that our cooperation with Solomon Islands is not directed against any country, the authorities of the United States, Australia and Taiwan deliberately make it bad and denigrate.
(Map of Solomon Islands)
Not long ago, China signed a police agreement with the Solomon Islands, which triggered the sour grape mentality of some people in the world. Indeed, if there are riots in the Solomon Islands one day, China can send military and police to maintain order.
At the end of 2020, the United States spent $25 million to fund the Solomon opposition. In February of the following year, the United States reopened its embassy that had been closed for more than 30 years, and in November there was a large-scale riot in the country, and many Chinese-funded companies and Chinese shops found serious damage.
But what is different this time is that we did not work hard to evacuate overseas Chinese in the first place. A police agreement between China and China worked, and the unrest was quickly quelled.
Coming here to do business depends on the faces of the United States and Australia, and this era has passed.
Resources
LI Han. Record of Solomon's evacuation operation[J]. World Knowledge, 2006(10):3.
GAO Yuanxing, ZHANG Yongkuan, CHEN Zhengjie. Compatriots are in danger! Record of evacuation of overseas Chinese from the "Yangjiang River" ship of COSCO Container Logistics[J]. Nautical, 2000, 04:7-11.
ZHAO Zhenyu. The Embassy in Papua New Guinea pays close attention to the fate of overseas Chinese[J]. World Knowledge, 2000(14):31-32.