Solomon Islands' ambassador to China John Moffat Fugui dies in Beijing

One of the top foreign envoys to China, John Moffat Fugui who was Solomon Islands' ambassador to China passed away on the job in less than two years, Strait Times reported.

The envoy was 61-years-old and his demise is unlikely to adversely hinder a five-year bilateral security pact that has alarmed Australia and the United States.

Notably, Fugui's death on Thursday makes him the seventh top foreign envoy to China to die on the job in less than two years.

According to Strait Times, Fugui is the fifth ambassador to China to die since Ukraine's Serhii Kamyshev, 65, died in February 2021 after a trip to a Beijing Winter Olympic site. Germany's Jan Hecke, 54, a former foreign policy adviser to then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel, died in the Chinese capital in September 2021 two weeks into the job.

Furthermore, Philippine journalist-turned-diplomat Jose Santiago "Chito" Sta. Romana, 74, died in April 2022 during mandatory quarantine in Anhui province, which was later on followed by Myanmar's chief of mission U Myo Thant Pe in August in Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan province, the Strait Times reported.

Fugui became Solomon Islands' first ambassador to China in May 2021.

In April 2022, China and the Solomon Islands inked a security treaty, raising concerns in Canberra and Washington that the Asian powerhouse might expand its military footprint in the Pacific.

During a visit to Honiara in May, Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi sought to ease Western concerns, claiming China has "no intention at all" of establishing a military facility on the South Pacific island nation.

Throughout his tenure, Mr Fugui tried to open direct flights between Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, and Chinese towns; promote tuna and timber exports to China; attract Chinese investors and visitors; and seek collaboration in solar energy, Strait Times reported citing the Chinese official media.

( With inputs from ANI )