The US government has warned the Solomon Islands it will “act accordingly” if its security deal with China leads to a Chinese military presence in the Pacific island nation.
A visiting US delegation, including Indo-Pacific Security Advisor Kurt Campbell, delivered the message directly to Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, the White House said, as the fallout from the deal continued to dominate Australia’s federal election campaign.
Details of the agreement were not released. But according to a draft version of the deal, it would allow armed Chinese police officers to be deployed at Solomon Islands’ request to maintain “social order.” It would also allow China to “carry out ship visits in the Solomon Islands, conduct logistical replenishment, and make stopovers and crossings in the Solomon Islands,” and Chinese forces could also be deployed “to protect the safety of Chinese personnel and major projects in the Solomon Islands.” .
In a statement, the Biden administration said Sogavare had assured the US there would be no long-term Chinese presence in the islands. However, the USA would “follow developments closely in consultation with regional partners”.
“Solomon Islands officials indicated that the agreement has exclusively domestic applications, but the US delegation noted that the agreement has potential regional security implications, including for the United States and its allies and partners,” the White House said in a statement.
“The US delegation has identified clear problem areas related to the purpose, scope and transparency of the agreement.
“If steps are taken to establish a de facto permanent military presence, power projection capability, or military facility, the delegation noted that the United States would then have significant concerns and would respond accordingly.”
The White House also pledged to expedite the reopening of its embassy in Honiara.
On Saturday morning, Australia Treasurer Josh Frydenberg declined to be involved when the Government learned of the agreement.
Earlier this week, Nine newspapers reported that Australian intelligence services first became aware of it in March and played a role in leaking the draft agreement online.
But the failure of the Morrison government to block the deal has been described by the opposition Labor Party as the most significant foreign policy failure in the Pacific since World War II.
Frydenberg declined to say when Australia first knew about the Solomon Islands-China pact, instead saying that “we’ve known there was always a risk involved,” adding that “we’ve known that talks.” were in progress”.
He also told Weekend Sunrise that there was little more the government could do to help Solomon Islands, describing its existing aid as “full court press.”
The coalition government continued to seek to use the issue to portray Labor as soft on China, with Frydenberg calling a 2019 speech by Labor Party Deputy Leader Richard Marles the “biggest story” of the day.
Marles – who was campaigning alongside Jim Chalmers in Brisbane over the infection of Labor leader Anthony Albanese with Covid – confirmed reports that he had shown Chinese government officials a copy of a speech he gave at a university in Beijing in 2019.
“I gave a speech in China criticizing China, and I wanted to make sure the Chinese government wasn’t at all surprised by what I was going to say,” Marles said.
“The government’s claim is yet another desperate attempt to distract from its failures in the Pacific.”
Senior Labor MP Tanya Plibersek said Saturday morning that the Solomon Islands security pact was the result of “years of neglect” by the Australian government.
Asked what Labor would have done differently from the Coalition, she said: “We would not have ruined relations with our Pacific neighbors in the first place.
“It is inexplicable that, having been warned, [prime minister] Scott Morrison didn’t say to his Secretary of State, Marise Payne, ‘I want you on the first plane to the Solomons to discuss this.’
Reaction to the Solomon Islands deal was mixed.
Peter Kenilorea, chairman of the Solomon Islands Parliament’s foreign relations committee and opposition MP, described the deal as benefiting only China.
During a forum held this week, Kenilorea also questioned Sogavare’s claim that his government was entitled to reach the deal because it was a sovereign decision.
“I don’t think we should go down that path or that it would be a path that would benefit Solomon Islands,” he said. “I think the biggest winner here will be the People’s Republic of China in terms of gaining a foothold in the Pacific region.”
He went on to say that “security, particularly in this heightened geopolitical environment, is more than a national issue…the region is affected, there is an impact.”
Another participant of the forum, the leading Solomon Islands academic, Dr. Transform Aqorau said it was worrying that no one outside the government had seen a copy of the signed agreement or received details of its contents, but said he saw nothing wrong with an agreement that strengthened the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF). .
However, former Solomon Islands Prime Minister and current MP Danny Philip told the same forum that the deal would help ensure Chinese assets were protected in the country after Australian security forces stationed there failed to do so. His claims were dismissed by Australian authorities.
Associated Press and Australian Associated Press contributed to this report