Solomon Islands

2022 - 3 - 24

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Post cover — Image courtesy of "Aljazeera.com"

Australia alarm over China security deal with Solomon Islands (Aljazeera.com)

Leaked document indicates pact would allow China to deploy police and troops to Pacific island nation.

Australia previously led a peacekeeping mission in the Solomon Islands from 2003 to 2017. Dutton said 50 police were in the country and would remain there until 2023. “We want peace and stability in the region. The “forces of China” would also be allowed to protect “the safety of Chinese personnel” and “major projects in the Solomon Islands”. We don’t want unsettling influences and we don’t want pressure and coercion that we are seeing from China continuing to roll out in the region.” “We would be concerned, clearly, at any military base being established and we would express that to the Solomon Islands government,” Defence Minister Peter Dutton told Australia’s Channel Nine in an interview.

Solomon Islands defends plans to expand security ties with China ... (ABC News)

The Solomon Islands government is standing by a controversial draft agreement that Australian officials fear could pave the way to a Chinese military ...

"The Pacific family comes together in these circumstances. "We have regularly and respectfully raised our concerns with the Solomon Islands Government and will continue to do so," the statement reads. Prime Minister Scott Morrison did not directly criticise Solomon Islands for pursuing the agreement but said the episode highlighted "the constant pressure and the constant push that is coming into the region from interests that are not aligned with Australia's and not aligned with those of the Pacific". It also said the government was "expanding the country's security arrangement with more countries" and suggested there was a strong "development" imperative driving the arrangement. However, in a statement issued late on Friday, the Solomon Islands government issued a lengthy defence of its push to expand security ties with Beijing. The government of Solomon Islands is standing by a controversial draft agreement which Australian officials fear could pave the way to a Chinese military presence in the Pacific Island nation, declaring it has to "broaden" its security ties.

Statement on Solomon Islands (unknown)

Through COVID, tropical cyclones and volcanic eruptions, Australia has shown we will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our Pacific family, through good times ...

Last year, Australia spent a record $1.7 billion in development assistance and will continue responding to our Pacific partners’ priorities such as climate change, COVID-19 recovery and economic and security challenges. We have regularly and respectfully raised our concerns with the Solomon Islands Government and will continue to do so. When members of the Pacific family work together, we can respond to the security challenges in our region.

News (unknown)

The Solomon Islands is seeking to expand its security relationship with China, its government confirmed on Friday, after reports that such an agreement was ...

A security agreement between China and Solomon Islands could impact stability in the whole Pacific (unknown)

Australia must figure out how to respond to an increasingly crowded Pacific, without increasing tensions in the region.

But an increased security presence of a country like China in the Pacific further escalates the geopolitical competition in the region. The potentially zero-sum nature of great power rivalry in the Pacific does not sufficiently address the prosperity needs of individual Pacific countries and can undermine their security and stability, particularly those with a recent history of internal conflict such as Solomon Islands. The scope of the agreement allows China to provide security assistance to major projects. It would also cause concern among other Pacific nations, not just Australia. A document that could over-accommodate the reach of China’s security apparatus into Solomon Islands would be politically damaging for prime minister Sogavare, who would expose himself to accusations of elite capture in the context of the recent riots. The leaked document is an early draft and Solomon Islands would no doubt seek to narrow the terms of the agreement, walking back some of the commitments that China has proposed. Solomon Islands’ increasingly close ties with China since the switch of diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 2019 remains a highly sensitive issue domestically.

‘Great concern’ over China-Solomon Islands deal (unknown)

The Pacific island nation on Friday said it was expanding ties with China to combat security threats and ensure a safe environment for investment as it ...

The Solomons has already signed a policing deal with China. On Thursday, a Solomon Islands official told Reuters a security deal with China covering the military would be sent to its cabinet for consideration. The Pacific island nation on Friday said it was expanding ties with China to combat security threats and ensure a safe environment for investment as it diversifies security relations.