Australia says it would keep security ties with Solomon Islands despite China pact
- Canberra is concerned the security deal could foreshadow a Chinese military presence fewer than 2,000km from Australia and undermine regional stability
- An Australian minister this week met with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare in Honiara and asked him not to sign the proposed agreement
Australia would continue to cooperate with the Solomon Islands on matters of security even if the Pacific island nation signs a proposed security agreement with China that Australia opposes, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Sunday.
Payne said there are concerns about a “lack of transparency” in relation to the draft security agreement.
Canberra is concerned the security deal, details of which have not been publicised, could foreshadow a Chinese military presence fewer than 2,000km from Australia.
Despite a national election campaign putting the Australian government in caretaker mode, an Australian minister this week met with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare in Honiara and asked him not to sign the proposed agreement.
Solomon Islands faces pressure from Australia over China security pact
Payne said the matter is “something that should be discussed in the broader Pacific Island forum context itself” and the “Pacific family” is best placed to respond to regional security issues.
Both the US and Australia have intensified a diplomatic push directed at the Solomon Islands, part of a wider effort to counter China’s influence.
A draft official document leaked on social media showed that the deal could allow Beijing to deploy forces to “protect the safety of Chinese personnel and major projects in Solomon Islands.”
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has said the archipelago won’t permit China to build a military base. Payne said those comments were “very important assurances” and that Australia would continue security cooperation with the Solomon Islands even if it signs the agreement with China.
Solomon Islands says it won’t allow Chinese military base amid backlash
Beijing has already militarised outposts in disputed areas of the South China Sea – parts of which are also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam – and has carried out repeated incursions into waters around the disputed Diaoyu Islands, which the mainland claims. The group of East China Sea islets are controlled by Tokyo, which they call the Senkaku Islands.
The Solomon Islands switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to Beijing in 2019.
Additional reporting by Kyodo, Bloomberg
