Introduction
In recent months, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has begun exporting its notorious rural surveillance system — known as the “Fengqiao Experience” — to the Solomon Islands. This move involves Chinese police collecting biometric data, promoting drone surveillance among children, and introducing a governance model rooted in authoritarian social control.
Beneath the surface of “community safety” lies something far more troubling: a foreign regime with no legal or democratic legitimacy attempting to reshape the governance of another sovereign state.
This article lays out why China’s actions are not only politically coercive, but may constitute violations of international law, human rights, and Solomon Islands' constitutional order.
What Is the “Fengqiao Experience”?
Originally devised in the 1960s under Mao Zedong, the “Fengqiao Model” was a system of local control that mobilized citizens to spy on each other, denounce dissenters, and help the Communist Party neutralize “class enemies.” Revived under Xi Jinping, it has become a cornerstone of China’s domestic security state — now featuring grid-style neighborhood surveillance, biometric tracking, and drone patrols.
This is not a neutral governance tool. It is an ideologically driven mechanism of authoritarian control.
Exporting Surveillance: What’s Happening in the Solomon Islands?
According to Reuters and local testimonies:
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Chinese police are piloting the “Fengqiao” model in villages near Honiara, the Solomon Islands' capital.
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Activities include fingerprint and palm print collection, household registration, and drones introduced to children as "games".
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Chinese officers have visited at least 16 villages to promote this model.
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The local police confirm it will be expanded nationwide.
This raises immediate concerns about consent, legality, and human rights.
Legal and Ethical Red Flags
🔹 1. Violation of International Privacy Rights
Under Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Solomon Islands is a party:
“No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with their privacy.”
Mass biometric collection by a foreign police force — without transparent legal processes — is a clear breach of this standard.
🔹 2. Breach of Sovereignty
The United Nations Charter prohibits interference in the internal affairs of other states. A foreign government shaping domestic law enforcement and social control models is not technical assistance — it’s foreign political influence disguised as security cooperation.
🔹 3. Erosion of Data Sovereignty
Who owns the data? If personal information collected by Chinese police is stored or processed outside Solomon Islands, this raises serious issues about data sovereignty and foreign surveillance capabilities.
🔹 4. Illegality Under Solomon Islands’ Own Constitution
Opposition leaders say the project was never approved by Parliament. If true, that means it lacks legal authorization under national law — making the program itself unconstitutional.
“This violates the rights protected under our Constitution,” said opposition MP Peter Kenilorea.
The Elephant in the Room: China’s Own Illegitimacy
Let us be direct.
The People's Republic of China regime has no valid legal basis — not domestically, and certainly not abroad.
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The Chinese Constitution was not ratified by free, fair, or democratic elections.
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The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) operates a single-party authoritarian system, imposed without public consent.
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It has never been chosen by the Chinese people through free elections.
A government without democratic legitimacy, based on a self-authored one-party constitution, cannot claim to export “law and order.”
This is not law enforcement. This is transnational authoritarianism.
Imagine a mafia writing its own rules, calling them a constitution, then using them to justify enforcing surveillance in your neighborhood. That’s the CCP in the Solomon Islands.
The Global Stakes
If this pilot succeeds in the Solomon Islands, other fragile democracies in the Pacific — or even Africa and Latin America — could be next.
This is part of a broader strategy by Beijing to:
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Normalize authoritarian control overseas
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Create dependency on Chinese security frameworks
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Undermine democratic governance from the inside
It’s a stealth form of ideological colonization — not with armies, but with surveillance systems, political indoctrination, and digital control.
What Must Be Done
To protect sovereignty and human rights, the Solomon Islands — and the international community — must act:
✅ Demand full transparency on all foreign policing activities
✅ Conduct an independent review of the biometric data program
✅ Place legal limits on all foreign law enforcement operations
✅ Engage international human rights monitors
✅ Reassert democratic control over local security policy
Final Word
The world must stop treating the Chinese Communist Party as just another government. It is not.
It is an unelected, unaccountable regime — ruling without consent, and now exporting its tools of repression abroad.
Surveillance without consent is not safety.
Governance without legitimacy is not governance.
And authoritarianism in disguise must be exposed — wherever it tries to spread.
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