HONIARA: Solomon Islands lawmakers elected China-friendly former foreign minister Jeremiah Manele as prime minister on Thursday, choosing him over an opposition leader intent on curbing Beijing's reach in the South Pacific nation.

Manele won 31 votes in a secret ballot of 50 members of parliament (MPs), said Governor-General David Vunagi, the climax of a national election that will resonate in Beijing, Washington and across the South Pacific.

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