Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s declaration that a Chinese military base in the Solomon Islands would be a “red line” could embolden Beijing to go ahead and build one anyway because Australia would be too weak to respond, security experts warn.

Mr Morrison had escalated the issue and gone further than the US in voicing opposition to the Solomon Islands security pact with China, according to former senior Defence Department official Hugh White and director of the University of Western Australia’s Defence and Security Institute, Peter Dean.