How China Buys Foreign Politicians: A Case Study

Well, that didn’t take long. Almost exactly two years ago, in September 2019, the Solomon Islands, a country of around 650,000 people in the South Western Pacific, switched recognition from Taiwan to China. It was a controversial move domestically. Several local leaders expressed concern that the country might become more unstable and authoritarian as a result of a projected dramatic increase in PRC involvement in the country. But even they probably didn’t guess how quickly it might happen. Already politics are being distorted, Chinese companies are causing severe disruptions, and fragile political and social structures are fragmenting. Three events from…