China Takes Over the Solomon Islands — And the Pacific

In this mailing: - Gordon G. Chang: China Takes Over the Solomon Islands — And the Pacific - Daniel Greenfield: Will Biden Fund ISIS in Israel to Aid the Palestinians? [] [China Takes Over the Solomon Islands — And the Pacific]( by Gordon G. Chang • March 31, 2022 at 5:00 am [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [WhatsApp]( [Telegram]( [Send]( [Print]( - China, after years of persistent commercial, diplomatic, and military efforts, is taking over the Pacific. - Beijing is moving from island group to island group, and soon the People's Liberation Army will be in striking distance of Hawaii. - The five-year deal, subject to automatic renewals, will allow Beijing to use the islands to base its military and to do pretty much what the Chinese military wants. - If implemented to its full extent, the Framework Agreement will give China the ability to sever shipping lanes and air links connecting the U.S. with its treaty ally Australia and partner New Zealand. - For decades, Washington allowed Canberra and Wellington to manage the Solomons and its region.... Beijing, through payoffs now detailed in public, essentially owns Sogavare's government. - There is now talk that China will ink a security agreement with Papua New Guinea, just north of Australia. - Moreover, China wants to upgrade an airstrip in Kiribati. Beijing says the improvements are for civilian purposes only, yet the military uses are apparent and no one believes the Chinese assurances. - The facility is just 1,900 miles south of Hawaii. In Pacific terms, Kiribati is America's next-door neighbor. Communist China is moving across the Pacific from island group to island group, and soon the People's Liberation Army will be in striking distance of Hawaii. China's new five-year deal with the Solomon Islands, subject to automatic renewals, will allow Beijing to use the islands to base its military and to do pretty much what the Chinese military wants. Pictured: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang shows the way to Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, in Beijing on October 9, 2019. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Pool/AFP via Getty Images) On March 25, the Solomon Islands announced it was "expanding" security arrangements, "diversifying the country's security partnership including with China." The announcement was defensive. The day before, opponents of a security pact with China leaked what was labeled a "draft" agreement. Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare's government did not confirm the authenticity of the leaked document, but observers believe he intends that version to be final. Australia, which expressed "great concern," confirmed the draft as authentic. The pact, titled "Framework Agreement Between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of Solomon Islands on Security Cooperation," highlights a disturbing trend: China, after years of persistent commercial, diplomatic, and military efforts, is taking over the Pacific. Beijing is moving from island group to island group, and soon the People's Liberation Army will be in striking distance of Hawaii. [Continue Reading Article]( [] [Will Biden Fund ISIS in Israel to Aid the Palestinians?]( by Daniel Greenfield • March 31, 2022 at 4:00 am [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [WhatsApp]( [Telegram]( [Send]( [Print]( - The last Palestinian Authority presidential election was in 2005. Abbas won. The last parliamentary election was in 2006. Hamas won. - If elections were somehow held today, the Hamas presidential candidate would win 54% of the vote while Abbas would only get 38%. So you can see why there will be no elections. - Blinken is fine with Abbas postponing the elections forever, because otherwise the terror clans will do what they did the last time that Bush naively allowed elections and vote for Hamas. - And that would be inconvenient because Hamas won't pretend that they aren't terrorists. - If the P.A. follows its usual "Pay to Slay" policy in this case, it won't just be financially supporting the usual stable of PLO, Hamas and Islamic Jihad families, but also an ISIS terrorist's family. - And that will mean American taxpayers will end up subsidizing ISIS terrorism in Israel, as the Biden administration explores ways to bypass the Taylor Force Act's ban on terror funding. - At a joint press conference on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Blinken gave a speech mostly blaming Israel for future violence during Passover and Ramadan. That speech was followed by another ISIS attack in which two heavily armed terrorists opened fire on a bus. The Islamic terrorists were taken down by cops who had been eating nearby, but not before they killed two officers. - Blinken meanwhile used the visit to pitch Israelis on a Biden plan to remove the IRGC, Iran's terror hub, from the list of foreign terrorist organizations, claiming it would be "symbolic." - He failed to condemn the terrorist attack as an ISIS attack, calling it "senseless" violence. - At his joint press conference with Abbas, Blinken also failed to condemn terrorism or to note that ISIS, with the tacit support of his PLO hosts in Ramallah and of Hamas in Gaza, was planting its flag in Israel. Instead, Blinken once again condemned Jewish Israeli "settler violence." - Neither Arab Muslims nor Israelis want Abbas or the P.A. Only diplomats like Blinken and Nuland insist on keeping the senile tyrant of Ramallah in office until he dies. If elections for the Palestinian Authority were somehow held today, the Hamas presidential candidate would win 54% of the vote while Mahmoud Abbas would only get 38%. So you can see why there will be no elections. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is fine with Abbas postponing the elections forever, because otherwise the terror clans will do what they did the last time that Bush naively allowed elections and vote for Hamas. Pictured: Blinken (left) meets with Abbas on May 25, 2021 in Ramallah. (Photo by Alex Brandon/Pool/AFP via Getty Images) "In the name of Allah, the merciful and compassionate," said Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, "we would like to welcome Secretary Clinton." "Blinken," someone corrected him. "Sorry, Blinken," said the 86-year-old Islamic terrorist leader. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had to travel thousands of miles to find a leader even more unpopular and out of it than the one he had left behind at the White House. That was last year. This year, Abbas got Blinken's name right, but not much else. In 17 years (and just one election), Abbas has seen a lot of secretaries of state come and go to get their pictures taken with him before sending him a few hundred million dollars. [Continue Reading Article]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [RSS]( [Donate]( Copyright © Gatestone Institute, All rights reserved. You are subscribed to this list as {EMAIL} You can change how you receive these emails: [Update your subscription preferences]( or [Unsubscribe from this list]( [Gatestone Institute]( 14 East 60 St., Suite 705, New York, NY 10022