Australia, NZ warn Solomons over ‘destabilising’ the Pacific with China deal

Singapore/Washington: Australia and New Zealand will push to stop a security agreement between China and the Solomon Islands from being signed as officials scramble to understand how they were blindsided by Beijing’s proposed deal.

There is deep concern in Canberra, Wellington and Washington about the implications of a potential base for Chinese naval vessels right on Australia’s doorstep that will be able to cut off key supply lines into Asia and the Pacific in the event of a conflict.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia MahutaCredit: Getty

The Solomon Islands Office of Prime Minister and Cabinet on Friday afternoon said it was working with China to create a secure and safe environment for local and foreign investment while deepening its relations with Beijing and other governments.

“The government is expanding the country’s security arrangements with more countries,” it said in a statement. “Broadening partnerships is needed to improve the quality of lives of our people and address soft and hard security threats facing the country.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday urged the Solomon Islands to remember Australia’s work in the Pacific, and New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta warned the arrangement could “destabilise the current institutions and arrangements that have long underpinned the Pacific region’s security”.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“This would not benefit New Zealand or our Pacific neighbours,” she said.

NZ High Commissioner Georgina Roberts directly raised Wellington’s concerns with Honiara on Friday. The Ardern government is also attempting to establish contact with Beijing over the draft agreement revealed on Thursday. Both Australia and New Zealand said they respected the Solomons’ sovereignty to make agreements but warned the deal could put their interests at risk.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton said the Australian government wanted peace and stability in the region.

“We don’t want unsettling influences,” he said. “And we don’t want pressure and exertion that we’re seeing from China to continue to roll out in the region.”

Australia has not had any high-level ministerial contact with Beijing for more than two years after multiple diplomatic and economic disputes, leaving New Zealand as the key negotiator with the Chinese government.

The former chair of New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Committee, National MP Simon O’Connor, said the Chinese Communist Party’s choice of the Solomon Islands was deliberate.

“It is situated in a key position and NZ foreign policy has identified this challenge previously. I have serious questions as to how we have reached this situation,” he told this masthead.

“NZ, and I am sure Australia too, has invested much time, diplomacy, and money and yet, it appears we have failed. The CCP’s interference and activity in the Solomons have clearly worked, and so we need to do all we can to reverse this situation.”

In the United States, Charles Edel, the Australia chair of the Centre for Strategic & International Studies, one of Washington’s leading think tanks said the agreement would be “deeply problematic for the United States and a real cause of concern for our allies and partners”.

“The establishment of a base in the Solomon Islands by a strategic adversary would significantly degrade Australia and New Zealand’s security, increases the chances of local corruption, and heighten the chances of resource exploitation,” he said.

The draft agreement revealed on Thursday and later verified by the Australian government would open the door to Chinese military assistance and for Chinese naval ships to have “logistical replenishment in and have stopover and transition in the Solomon Islands”. The Solomons are an Australian economic partner, a critical strategic point in the Pacific, and a gateway to shipping lanes from the coast of Queensland and NSW to Asia. The Japanese targeted the islands as a key part of their campaign in World War II, giving them access to Australia’s east coast, less than 2000 kilometres from Honiara.

Anne-Marie Brady, a professor of political science at the University of Canterbury and a Chinese diplomacy expert said the Australian and New Zealand foreign ministries need to “have a good hard look at the effectiveness of their people on the ground, policies, and strategies”.

Morrison said Australia was the single largest provider of development assistance into the Pacific. “There is daylight to second. And through the course of the pandemic, in particular, that has been our first and primary focus beyond our own shores.”

The Australian federal budget committed $1.4 billion to aid in the Pacific last year. Chinese official aid was $220 million in 2019, but that figure is likely to be much higher after taking into account infrastructure projects through state-owned enterprises. The Solomon Islands government has also been accused of corruption by the opposition party, with MPs allegedly taking bribes in exchange for infrastructure approvals.

Morrison did not name China but said there were other governments “who may seek to pretend to influence and to seek to get some sort of foothold in the region”.

“I think events that you’ve seen most recently, only highlight the constant pressure and the cost and 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 more broadly.”

Destabilising: The Solomon Islands situation.Credit: Dyson

The Solomons’ Office of Prime Minister and Cabinet said it welcomed assistance from its two major partners, Australia and China. “We acknowledge with appreciation the support of the two partner countries,” it said.

Labor’s deputy leader Richard Marles said Australia should be the top economic and strategic partner for countries in the region.

“The Pacific matters. It’s a delicate issue, it’s a complex issue to get to a point where we are the natural partner of choice, but it’s completely doable,” he told Nine on Friday.

“[We need] to make sure that at the end of the day Australia is the natural partner of choice when it comes to security and indeed when it comes to economic issues as well.”

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