The visit comes amid concerns that a proposed security pact with Beijing will undermine regional security.
An Australian government minister has arrived in the Solomon Islands for talks amid concerns about a proposed security deal between the Pacific island nation and China.
International Development and Pacific Minister Zed Seselja landed in Honiara for two-day meetings, backed by Australia’s main opposition Labor Party.
He said the two-day visit will “further strengthen Australia’s relationship with the Solomon Islands”.
“Australia will continue to be a transparent and respectful partner,” Seselja wrote on Twitter after arriving at Honiara airport.
A spokesman for Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare told AFP the Pacific nation’s leader would “love to meet the Australian minister in Honiara”.
A proposed security pact between China and the Solomon Islands sent shockwaves across the Pacific when it leaked last month. Australia, New Zealand, the United States and some Pacific Island neighbors have all criticized the deal, which would allow Chinese security and naval operations in the Solomon Islands, as undermining regional stability.
The leaked draft would allow armed Chinese police officers to be deployed at the request of the archipelago to maintain “social order”.
Chinese police liaison team officer (centre) trains Solomon Islands police officers (Royal Solomon Islands Police Force/AFP photo handout)
Neither would be allowed to make the missions public without the written consent of the other party.
Sogavare said his government has “no intention whatsoever… to ask China to build a military base in the Solomon Islands.”
The country switched diplomatic affiliation from Taiwan to China in 2019, a move that fueled tensions with the administration of Malaita, the Solomon Islands’ largest province. Last November, Honiara was rocked by unrest demanding Sogavare’s resignation and the government called on Australia to help quell the unrest.
Seselja’s visit follows talks last week in Honiara between Australian intelligence chiefs and Solomon Islands officials over the proposed security pact with China.
US Assistant Secretary of State Wendy Sherman also held talks with Solomon Islands Secretary of State Jeremiah Manele on plans to reopen the US Embassy in the country, as well as “joint efforts to broaden and deepen engagement between our countries in support of a free and open Indo- Pacific Rim,” the State Department said in a statement late Tuesday.
Officials from China and the Solomon Islands have not yet signed the security agreement.
A leaked memo surfaced on social media on Tuesday, showing that the Chinese government told the Solomon Islands in December that it had deployed a 10-man security team with weapons including a sniper rifle, machine guns and electronic listening devices to protect embassy staff to send in the wake of the riots in Honiara in November.
The memo received extensive coverage in Australian media.