China looks poised to gain an ally in the strategic Pacific region this month as a new Solomon Islands leadership sours on decades of “useless” diplomatic ties to Taiwan. While no final decision has been announced on whether to switch allegiance, Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare gave a brutal assessment of 36 years of ties to Taipei in what he beleived were confidential remarks to an Australian academic. “To be honest, when it comes to economics and politics, Taiwan is completely useless to us,” Sogavare told the Australian National University’s Graeme Smith in an interview aired in a podcast earlier this month.
