Sydney - (AFP) - The Solomon Islands has secured a $66 million loan from China to finance the construction of 161 telecom towers in the country at the initiative of Chinese giant Huawei, according to the government of this small Pacific country.

This is the first loan the Solomon Islands has received from Beijing since the conclusion of a mysterious security agreement between the two countries last April, following the severing of diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

The Solomon Islands government considers this loan a "historic financial partnership" that was forged after the reactivation of relations with Beijing in 2019.
The growing financial and security ties between the two countries have alarmed the United States and its allies, especially neighboring Australia.

Western officials have indicated the possibility that China could use this security agreement to establish a military base in the country, concerns that Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare refuted more than once.

The agreement stipulates that the Solomon Islands will be granted a twenty-year loan from the government's Export-Import Bank of China, which will fully finance the construction of the towers at Huawei's initiative, according to what the government announced.

About half of the towers will be erected before the Pacific Islands Games in November 2023, according to the government.

In early August, Prime Minister Sogavare proposed amending the constitution to postpone the national elections scheduled for September 2023, arguing that the country would not be able to handle two events of this magnitude, which drew sharp criticism from the opposition.

The upcoming elections will be the first after the large protests against Sogavare's rule that took place in the capital, Honiara, last year.