China signs Solomon Islands security pact
China says it has signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands, just days before two of Joe Biden’s top diplomats arrive in Honiara.
China says it has signed a security agreement with Solomon Islands, escalating tensions with the West just days before two of US President Joe Biden’s top diplomats arrive in Honiara to warn its government of the consequences of the deal.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the framework agreement – which Canberra and Washington fear will lead to Chinese bases 2000km off Australia’s northeast coast – was recently signed by Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele.
He gave no details of when or where the agreement was signed.
The claim follows a statement by the Solomons government on March 31 that the agreement had been “initialled” and would be signed at a later date.
“The purpose of China-Solomons security co-operation is to promote social stability and long-term peace and security in Solomon Islands, which is in line with the common interests of Solomon Islands and the South Pacific region,” Mr Wang told a briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.
He said the agreement was “public, transparent, open and inclusive, not directed at any third party, and is parallel and complementary to the existing bilateral and multilateral security co-operation mechanisms in Solomon Islands”.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Minister for the Pacific Zed Seselja issued a joint statement on Tuesday, saying Australia was “deeply disappointed” at the signing of the agreement between China and Solomon Islands.
“We respect Solomon Islands’ right to make sovereign decisions about its national security,” the ministers said.
“Our view remains, however, that the Pacific family is best placed to meet the security needs of the region. We remain concerned about the lack of transparency with which this agreement has been developed.”
Earlier, a senior US official warned that the agreement with Beijing left the door open to Chinese bases and could encourage similar pacts elsewhere in the Pacific. National Security Council Indo-Pacific Co-ordinator Kurt Campbell and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink will arrive in the Solomons for talks with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare on Friday and Saturday, after stopovers in Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the delegation would “share concerns” with Mr Sogavare on the security agreement, noting the country was already well-served by its security relationships with Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and PNG.
“Despite the Solomon Islands government’s comments, the broad nature of the security agreement leaves open the door for the deployment of (People’s Republic of China) military forces to the Solomon Islands,” he said. “We believe signing such an agreement could increase destabilisation within the Solomon Islands and will set a concerning precedent for the wider Pacific Island region.”
Mr Price said the trip was “not about China”, but about helping Pacific countries “understand what the US brings to the table”.
“And we’ll leave it to them to contrast what we offer from what other countries, including rather large countries in the region, might offer,” he said.
However, Mr Wang questioned the US commitment to the Solomons and its neighbours, noting its soon-to-be-reopened embassy in the country “has been closed for 29 years”.
“After a lapse of many years, high-ranking US officials suddenly began to visit the Pacific Island countries,” the Foreign Minister said.
“Do they care about the island countries, or do they have other plans?”
Last week, on a trip to Honiara, Senator Seselja “respectfully” urged Mr Sogavare to abandon the security agreement with China.
Mr Sogavare had refused to budge, saying the deal would not allow Chinese bases in his country and branding Western criticism of the pact as “insulting”.
Australian Institute of International Affairs president Allan Gyngell said it was good to see such high-level US attention being focused on the South Pacific, and urged Washington to maintain its focus on the region.
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