Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare announced on Wednesday that the government had signed a security deal with China the day before, sparking concern among Western nations.
Sogavare stressed to the Solomon Islands National Parliament that the agreement “will not affect or undermine the peace and harmony” in the region.
The news comes just days ahead of the planned visit to the United States. On Monday morning, the White House announced in a news conference that Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific region Kurt Campbell would lead a delegation of U.S. government officials later this week the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
A draft of the deal, which proposes that China be allowed to station troops in the region, was leaked last month. Sogavare previously claimed last month that the country had “no intention at all” “to ask China to build a military base”; However, it’s unclear if he still stands by that statement. He also assured at the time that the country was not being pressured in any way by its “new friends”.
Last month, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expressed her concerns about the pact ahead of signing. She told public broadcaster Radio NZ: “We see such acts as a potential militarization of the region and also in terms of Pacific security we see very little reason for such a need and such a presence.”
She added: “We see this as very worrying.”
Similarly, the Australian Prime Minister last Wednesday dispatched his Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Zed Seselja, to visit the islands to try to dissuade Sogavare from signing the deal.
The archipelagic state with around 900 islands has around 700,000 inhabitants and is only 1,240 miles northeast of Australia. The Southwest Pacific region, which includes the Solomon Islands and New Zealand, has historically been an area dominated by Western influences.
Despite its small size, the country remains of great historical importance and played an important role in World War II. The victory of Allied forces in the region put the Japanese army at a crucial disadvantage, crippling its ability to gather resources and plan attacks.
While the details of the deal are unclear, the new partnership represents an undeniable shift in political alliances in the Indo-Pacific region. It’s no surprise, either, given that China has steadily invested and expanded its presence in the country over the past decade, including a $500 million “donation” to sever its 36-year-old ties with Taiwan in 2019.
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