Beijing has praised Solomon Islands for severing diplomatic ties with Taiwan earlier this week, saying the decision will bring "unprecedented opportunities for development" for the Pacific nation.

Key points: The US said it was "deeply disappointed" by the decision to "abandon Taiwan"

The US said it was "deeply disappointed" by the decision to "abandon Taiwan" The $US500 million could include loans and go towards payments to individual MPs

The $US500 million could include loans and go towards payments to individual MPs Taiwan spent about $US105 million in Solomon Islands in 2011-17 compared to Australia's $US1.15 billion

Some $US500 million ($730 million) has reportedly been promised in financial aid by Beijing, far surpassing the financial support offered by Taiwan — meanwhile, Solomon Islands promised to terminate their relationship with Taiwan before China's National Day on October 1.

"China highly commends the decision of the Solomon Islands' government to recognise the one-China principle and sever the so-called 'diplomatic ties' with the Taiwan authorities," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

"We support the Solomon Islands in making such an important decision as a sovereign and independent country.

"We're convinced that the establishment and development of diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, the world's second-largest economy with more than 1.4 billion people and a bright future, will surely bring unprecedented development opportunities for the Solomon Islands."

On Monday, after months of discussions and weeks of investigation, the Solomon Islands voted to recognise China after 36 years of being aligned with Taiwan.

In response, Taiwan immediately terminated relations, closed its embassy and flew its staff out of the pacific island nation.

It's the sixth country to make the switch since 2016 and it leaves Taiwan with just 16 diplomatic allies — recent others being Dominican Republic and Panama.

Australia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the ABC that it respected Solomon Islands' autonomy in the decision while adding that it does not take a position on other countries' diplomatic stances.

In an exclusive interview with the ABC, the United States' Ambassador to Solomon Islands said it was "deeply disappointed" by the decision to "abandon Taiwan" while raising concerns that tensions between Taiwan and mainland China could disturb the status quo.

US Ambassador to the Solomons Catherine Ebert-Gray. ( Supplied )

"It's served us well, it's served the world well, in development and in peace in the region, so we hope that China doesn't disturb that peace," US Ambassador Catherine Ebert-Gray said, while adding that the US would be "keeping an eye" on the security situation in the region along with other "concerned countries".

A planned meeting between US Vice President Mike Pence and Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare of Solomon Islands has also reportedly been canned, while Solomon Islands released a brief statements thanking Taiwan for years of friendship.

"All of us have learned we need to be more engaged to help the Pacific through this period," Ms Ebert-Gray told the ABC.

What did it cost Beijing to sever 36 years of relations?

Sorry, this video has expired Owing China: Are Beijing's big loans to poor nations a boon or a debt trap?

While the details of the final financial package offered to Solomon Islands by China haven't been officially released, there are reports China has promised $US500 million in "financial aid".

Taiwanese media recently reported that a special task force who travelled to Beijing last month to meet Foreign Minister Wang Yi promised to complete "the diplomatic procedure … before October 1" in exchange for $US500 million in aid, while Beijing state media this week quoted Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu flagging the same figure during an unsuccessful resignation announcement.

The October 1 deadline was said to be forwarded by an "inter-party group" in the Solomons which advised the Prime Minister to establish diplomatic relations as soon as possible ahead of China's hugely anticipated 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs slammed Beijing this week for resorting to "dollar diplomacy and false promises" of large amounts of money to buy off politicians, as Beijing's Foreign Ministry dismissed the accusation during a press briefing saying that "certain principles cannot be bought with money, neither can trust."

"The remarks by certain individuals in Taiwan fully reveal how they've presumed others' behaviour by their own pattern'," a spokeswoman said.

While several Chinese and Taiwan media outlets cited the $US500 million aid money, Pacific experts say that figure has not been confirmed.

The Lowy's Pacific Islands Program director Jonathan Pryke told the ABC neither Solomon Islands nor China have officially confirmed what kind of a package has been agreed on.

"But one thing for sure is that Solomon Islands would not be doing this without some significant incentive, and I would not be surprised if there was a significant package attached to it," he said.

"$US500 million is a lot of money for Solomon Islands, and I don't think it will all happen at once … if that were the amount it would be spread over some amount of time.

"I'd imagine quite a lot of it will be packaged into loans — that's China's typical way of providing foreign aid and development assistance throughout the Pacific and the rest of the world."



However, the financial aid that China has promised will likely eclipse what Taiwan has provided in aid to Solomon Islands.

According to data from the Lowy Institute, Taiwan spent about $US105 million in Solomon Islands between 2011 and 2017, compared to $US1.15 billion provided by Australia.

Mr Pryke said he expected China would be providing support to Solomon Islands' Constituency Development Funds, which are direct payments to individual MPs.

"That was a major way in which Taiwan supported Solomon Islands through their foreign aid program," he said.

"I think at a minimum, Solomon Islands' MPs would be expecting that this support would continue because it's quite a lucrative measure of support."

'Republic of Taiwan': Beijing converting all of Taipei's allies could backfire

Taiwan now has formal relations with only 16 countries worldwide. ( Reuters: Pichi Chuang )

Solomon Islands is the sixth country to cut ties with Taiwan since 2016, leaving Taiwan with formal relations with just 16 countries worldwide including five in the Pacific — the recent severing of Taiwan ties has raised rebate of a domino effect in the region.

"Even if China buys all 16 countries with money, it doesn't matter," Chui Liang Chiou, a former adviser to the Taiwan president's office, told the ABC.

"To some extent, Taiwan's relations with the United States, Japan and Australia are probably even closer than China's relations with these countries, except there is no political diplomatic relations."

He added many Taiwanese may even be happy about the break because it was a huge cost to maintain relations with Solomon Islands and those resources can now be focussed on domestic issues like security and social welfare.

National Taiwan University political scientist Shimin Chen said while there was no denying or competing with Beijing's great political and economic influence in the world, snatching up all Taiwan's remaining diplomatic allies could backfire.

"If Taiwan's diplomatic relations reach single digits or even zero, it represents that the international community does not recognise Republic of China, and the result may not be what Beijing wants," he told the ABC.

"Taiwan may give up the 'Republic of China' name and the Constitution of the Republic of China, and then what will happen? A 'Republic of Taiwan' or some other name? Probably not what Beijing wants to get."

Regional analyst and defence expert Jian Zhang told the ABC China's growing influence in the region could be a concern considering the continuous enhancement of China's military strength and the growth of its long-range missile launch capability.

"Strategically, China will regard the South Pacific as a more important region," he said.

Scott Morrison with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare. ( AAP: Darren England )

Mr Zhang noted that the first country Mr Morrison visited was Solomon Islands, "which reflects the potential worries about the establishment of diplomatic relations between Solomon Islands and China".

"Solomon Islands still established diplomatic relations with China even though both Australia and the United States have strengthened their influence on the South Pacific island countries.

"So, this is an obvious diplomatic setback and even a failure for Australia and the United States."

The ABC contacted China and Taiwan's ministries of foreign affairs for comment, but they did not respond by publication time.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has also been contacted for a response.