Member of Parliament Peter Kenilorea Jr. also questioned whether his country was truly free under the current coalition government.
A Solomon Islands member of parliament has expressed concern over his ruling coalition government’s decision to criticize him for traveling to Taiwan to attend a recent summit.
“Calls for resumption of relations with Taiwan, China, by Hon Peter Kenilorea is regrettable, and disappointing,” the statement reads.
The Chinese regime claims Taiwan as a part of its territory and has threatened to reunite the island with the mainland through military force. However, Taiwan is a de-facto independent nation with its own democratic government, constitution, and military.
He added, “Instead of harming Solomon Islands, the summit looked at ways that we as concerned MPs of the IPAC network can continue to spread the message in our respective Parliaments about perils any unilateral change to the Taiwan strait relations could bring.”
He said the Chinese Embassy in his country did not try to pressure him not to attend the summit. However, he added his government’s statement seemed to be a “veiled reference” suggesting he should not have traveled to Taiwan in the first place.
“It is truly regrettable and very concerning to read these sentiments that are aimed to restrict freedom of movement, expression, and conscience of our nation’s citizens, let alone a Member of Parliament. Or are we no longer a free country?” Kenilorea said.
“Instead of attempting to unreasonably restricting [sic] our freedoms guaranteed to our citizens by our constitution, it is the duty of a democratic government like GNUT to ensure that these freedoms are enjoyed as much as possible.”