2006 riots over Snyder Rini’s election destroyed a Chinatown in this country’s capital, which was again burned in 2021 after it switched relations from Taiwan to China three years before Nauru. For 10 points each:
[10m] Name this Pacific country whose security pact with China leaked in 2022. Its prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, signed a policing pact in Beijing in 2023.
ANSWER: Solomon Islands [accept the Solomons]
[10e] A Chinese state company named for this industry will redevelop the Solomons’ Gold Ridge Mine. This industry built “standard-gauge” Belt and Road projects in Laos and Kenya.
ANSWER: railways [or railroads or trains; or tiělù; accept Boten–Vientiane Railway, Lao–China Railway, Mombasa–Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, or China Railway; prompt on transportation, shipping, cargo, freight, construction, or engineering]
[10h] The GDPC proposed that the Solomons adopt this policy to address both “exposure” from Chinese creditors and threatened biodiversity. This policy created “blue” bonds in Seychelles (“say-SHELL”) and “green” ones in Gabon.
ANSWER: debt-for-nature swaps [accept debt-for-climate swaps or debt-for-adaptation swaps; prompt on green debt swaps; prompt on debt relief, debt cancellation, debt forgiveness, or equivalents] (The GDPC is the Global Development Policy Center.)
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