The Chinese Communist Party has exported its “village-level surveillance” model to the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean, according to local officials and residents who confirmed to Reuters. Chinese police have been conducting a pilot project in villages near the capital Honiara this year to collect fingerprints and population data under the guise of “maintaining stability.” This move has sparked controversies involving human rights and constitutional issues.
As a security partner of Beijing, the Solomon Islands police have publicized on social media that Chinese police have been promoting the “Maple Bridge” model in multiple villages, even using games to familiarize children with surveillance drones.
The so-called “Maple Bridge experience” originated from the grassroots surveillance methods during the Mao Zedong era and has been recently emphasized by the Chinese Communist Party leader as a tool to maintain community stability.
Ben Hillman, director of the China Studies Center at the Australian National University, pointed out that Chinese villages commonly practice “grid-style” governance, with each grid member being responsible for monitoring several households, allowing the CCP to mobilize at the grassroots level and engage in mutual supervision. He described this model as being “extremely rare” when transplanted overseas, due to its reliance on specific political structures.
Solomon Islands community leader Andrew Nihopara confirmed that the village of “Fighter 1” in the outskirts of Honiara has initiated a pilot program in cooperation with the Chinese side. According to a statement from the Solomon Islands police, Chinese police have introduced residents to population management, household registration, community mapping, and the collection of fingerprints and palm prints. Chinese police officer Lin Jiamu stated, “This is an initial trial and will be expanded to a larger scale across the (Solomon) Islands in the future.”
Opposition member Peter Kenilorea criticized the project, stating that it “violates the constitutional protection of individual rights” and should undergo legislative processes in parliament rather than being implemented directly. He warned that such actions could be a “step towards an authoritarian regime” and emphasized that there are “better ways to govern poverty-stricken and troubled communities.”
According to reports from the Solomon Islands police, Chinese police have recently been promoting the “Maple Bridge” model in 16 villages in the Malaita province, which have experienced several anti-China protests.
In 2022, Beijing and the Solomon Islands signed a security agreement. The year prior, following the Solomon Islands government’s diplomatic shift from Taiwan to Beijing, massive unrest erupted in the region.
Observers have noted similarities between this move by the Chinese Communist Party and its recent establishment of a “nature reserve” on the disputed Huangyan Island in the South China Sea with the Philippines, all under the guise of environmental protection or security maintenance while actually aiming to reinforce sovereignty and political control. The Philippines announced on Thursday (September 11) that it would lodge a formal diplomatic protest against the infringement of Filipino sovereignty and violation of international law.
The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly criticized Beijing for its “gray zone actions,” believing that China is advancing militarization and surveillance expansion under the pretense of environmental, scientific, or security reasons, which seriously undermines regional security and international legal order.