China is buying favourable coverage in Pacific media, raising concerns about foreign influence

Concerns have been raised about foreign influence in Pacific media after it was revealed Solomon Islands' longest-running newspaper received funding from China in return for favourable coverage. Recently, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project has revealed how China has been attempting to gain influence in media outlets in Palau and Solomon Islands. China had even more success gaining favour in Solomon Islands, where it has steadily been increasing its presence and influence since the Pacific nation switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 2019. If China managed to sway both the Solomon Islands government and its main newspaper, that would create an "unholy alliance", Professor Singh said. Solomon Islands and Pacific outlets have been funded for media development by Australia and other governments. "It's quite difficult for us to ensure that the media industry thrives when they are really floundering, where companies are finding it hard to pay their staff salary," she told the ABC. Following the OCCRP report, the Solomon Star on Tuesday ran a response on page six headlined "Solomon Star condemns unrelated attack by US-funded OCCRP". "It is indeed sad to see the OCCRP-funded journalists in Solomon Islands and the Pacific trying to bring geopolitics into the Pacific and Solomon Islands media landscape and Solomon Star strongly urges these journalists and their financiers to stop geo-politicising the media."