Question: Tulagi Island, which was recently in news, is the territory of which country?
(a) South Korea
(b) Japan
(c) Solomon
(d) Madagascar
Answer: (c)
Related facts:
- On 25 October, 2019; Solomon Islands completely rejected Chinese company’s attempt to lease an entire Tulagi Island in the Pacific archipelago.
- Solomon’s Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s office said in a statement that this lease deal was unlawful and will not be allowed to go ahead.
- It should be noted that in September 2019 a Chinese company Sam Enterprise Group has signed a secretive deal with the government of the Solomon Islands to lease an entire Tulagi island.
- The lease deal has to be effective for up to 75 years but the status of the lease remains unclear since it is a non-binding agreement.
- The deal was signed just a few days after the Solomon Islands abandoned Taiwan and began diplomatically recognizing Chinese aid and investment to flow.
- Solomon Government insisted that provincial government did not have the power to negotiate the agreement regarding Tulagi island, which has the type of deep-water harbour coveted by the military.
- Solomon Islands, lie east of Papua New Guinea and northeast of Australia in the south Pacific, is a scattered archipelago of about 1,000 mountainous islands and low-lying coral atolls.
- Tulagi, among Solomon’s is an island about two square kilometres (0.8 square miles) with a population of 1,200, is the site of a former Japanese naval base and was the scene of fierce fighting in World War II.
- The agreement with China’s company Sam mentioned developing a refinery on the island, but the United States and Australia would have been concerned at its potential for dual use as a Chinese military base.
- The Solomons was previously Taiwan’s largest ally in the Pacific region but now they have taken the decision to ditch Taipei for China.
Links:-
https://www.news18.com/news/world/chinese-firms-plan-to-lease-an-entire-island-turns-sour-as-solomon-islands-pm-terms-deal-illegal-2361905.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-solomonislands/solomon-islands-govt-says-chinas-island-lease-is-unlawful-idUSKBN1X400G