In September 2019, the life of gift shop clerk and Honiara resident Patricia was thrown into chaos. Her daughter, Georgia, lost a prestigious scholarship at one of Taiwan’s universities — one of 106 scholarships the Taiwanese had distributed to Solomon Islanders as part of its aid program.
Georgia was studying international relations and politics and was set to take on the world. Instead her hopes were dashed when Taipei terminated her scholarship as Solomon Islands opened ties with China.
When I first met Patricia, a few weeks after that decision, she was bereft: “I haven’t slept since the
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