The Solomon Islands Prime Minister is blaming foreign powers for encouraging civil unrest in the Pacific nation, as Australian police officers arrive in the country to help quell rioting.
Protests in the capital Honiara quickly spiralled out of the control of local police, with arson and looting in the Chinatown district and the city centre, and crowds threatening to disrupt parliament.
A mixture of grievances have fuelled the protests, but the government's decision in 2019 to switch diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China is the main source of the conflict.
Speaking to the ABC from Honiara, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare stood by the decision to terminate diplomatic relations with Taipei, despite fierce and sustained criticism.
"That decision is a correct decision, it is legal, it puts Solomon Islands on the right side of history and it is in line with international law," he said.
The Malaita Province, the most populous island of the archipelago, has maintained connections with Taipei in defiance of the central government.
"I feel sorry for my people in Malaita because they are fed with false and deliberate lies about the switch," Mr Sogavare said.
He dismissed other grievances protesters held about his government, insisting the divide over whether to recognise China or Taiwan was the sole source of conflict.
"That's the only issue, the only issue, and unfortunately, it is influenced and encouraged by other powers," he said.
"These very countries that are now influencing Malaita are the countries that don't want ties with the People's Republic of China and they are discouraging Solomon Islands to enter into diplomatic relations and to comply with international law and the United Nations resolution."
"I don't want to name names, we'll leave it there, we know who they are," he said.
Prime Minister thanks 'best friend' Australia for help
Overnight, a contingent of 23 Australian Federal Police officers arrived in Honiara to bolster Solomon Islands' police force, following a request from Mr Sogavare for help.
More police, army officers and officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will follow today.
Mr Sogavare thanked Australia for being a "best friend" to the Solomon Islands.
"On behalf of the people of the Solomon Islands, I just want to thank the people and the government of Australia for coming to our aid."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison was careful to stress the presence of Australian police and troops was for assistance and not intervention.
"It is our hope and ambition that our presence will seek to calm the situation in the Solomon Islands and to restore some peacefulness," he said.
"Our presence there does not indicate any position on the internal issues of the Solomon Islands."
The deployment follows the long-running Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), a peace-keeping mission that began in 2003 after years of ethnic tension and violence between militia from the islands of Guadalcanal (which is home to the capital Honiara) and Malaita.
Riots causing a political crisis for the small nation
Mr Sogavare is hopeful the Australian presence will help restore order so Parliament can meet without disruption.
He dismissed calls from the Opposition Leader Matthew Wale to resign and said he is "very confident" his government's rule is secure.
"I am not going to bow down to anyone," he said. "We are intact, the government is intact and we are going to defend democracy."
"That guy [Wale] is right behind all that is happening … he encouraged the people of Malaita to come over to Honiara to disturb our Parliament."
"He is wasting his time calling for my resignation… what he is advancing is totally undemocratic."
Mr Wale said he "categorically rejects" suggestions he incited or was responsible for the unrest in the capital Honiara.
He said people felt powerless to change things in the country.
"The people in this country feel that the democratic processes are not working for them, that their own government is the puppet of China," he said.
Mr Wale said it was "folly" to blame foreign powers for the riots.
"I don't think that anyone is behind it," he said.
"This is all domestic."
He added that he welcomed Australia's support.
"[Mr Sogavare] should have requested that way before, because it now appears he had prior knowledge of how bad the situation could get," he said.
While Mr Sogavare insists "other powers" are behind the outbreak of violence, Mr Morrison said Australia did not see evidence of external interference.
"They are domestic expressions about those issues," he said of the protests.
"They are not the result of the actions of, to the best of our knowledge, of any other agency outside of the Solomon Islands."
