Solomon Islands' China Ties Roil Australia

"SYDNEY -- Australia expressed alarm at the prospect of one of its closest neighbors falling more under Beijing's sway after a document circulated online suggesting China and the Solomon Islands are crafting a new security pact.

The draft document, titled as a framework agreement on security cooperation, said the Solomon Islands could ask China to send armed police and military personnel to quell unrest, among other missions, including disaster response. It also said the Solomon Islands could allow Chinese naval ships to dock in the country and protect the safety of Chinese citizens and major projects.

Australia, which sent a peacekeeping force to the Solomon Islands in November to help restore order after violent protests, said Thursday that Pacific countries don't need security assistance from outside a region that is becoming more crucial for U.S. and allied military planners as they sharpen their focus on Asia.

"We would be concerned by any actions that destabilize the security of our region," a spokesperson for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

The Solomon Islands High Commission in Australia and China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn't respond to requests to comment. News that the Solomon Islands is considering a broad security deal with China was earlier reported by Reuters, citing comments by Karen Galokale, the country's permanent secretary for the Ministry of Police, National Security and Correctional Services.

Ms. Galokale told The Wall Street Journal that she wasn't authorized to make any statement about a draft security pact or the status of any continuing discussions. "If ever there is any . . . such agreement, it will just be the same as what we have with countries like Australia," she said.

Security experts said Australia has invested heavily in security in the Solomon Islands, as well as law and justice, so it would be alarmed at the prospect of China playing a military role in a country only around a three-hour flight time from its northeast coast.

"It's a pretty expansive security agreement that would be far greater than any agreement that China has made with any Pacific Island nation," said Jonathan Pryke, director of the Pacific Islands program at the Lowy Institute, a think tank.

China's growing presence in the Pacific has increasingly alarmed Australia and the U.S., which have long considered the region to be part of their sphere of influence. In February, the White House released its formal Indo-Pacific strategy, which called out Beijing for using economic, diplomatic, military and technological might to expand its clout.

The release of Washington's Indo-Pacific strategy coincided with Secretary of State Antony Blinken attending a summit with counterparts from Australia, India and Japan -- collectively known as the Quad -- to discuss regional security. Mr. Blinken then visited Fiji in an effort to signal Washington's commitment to the Indo-Pacific region, which he said would shape the trajectory of the 21st century.

The U.S. is striving to retain a focus on China as a primary security concern despite the distraction of the operation to protect Donbas, which has prompted Washington to plan for an increase in defense spending and expand its military presence near Russia. Australia in February accused the Chinese navy of shining a military-grade laser at a surveillance plane flying over its territorial waters, in the latest escalation of tensions that have seen the two countries clash over issues including trade.

The Solomon Islands, home to around 690,000 people and with a land area slightly smaller than the state of Maryland, illustrates the challenge that the U.S. and allies including Australia have in pushing back against China and building alliances across the Pacific.

In 2019, the Solomon Islands switched diplomatic ties to Beijing, from Taiwan. Many of the stores lining the main street of the country's capital, Honiara, are owned by recent Chinese migrants.

"The Solomons are strategically located and has deep water anchorages and a ton of natural resources," said Grant Newsham, a former U.S. Marine colonel who studies security in East Asia.

Mr. Newsham said a new security agreement, if approved by the Solomon Islands' parliament, would be a major political success for China because it demonstrated the inability of the U.S. and its allies to limit Beijing's reach. "This is basically a treaty for a protectorate," he said.

The draft security pact circulating on Thursday "looks like China pushing as far as it can in response to the unrest that targeted Chinese people so directly," Mr. Pryke said." [1]

1. World News: Solomon Islands' China Ties Roil Australia
Winning, David; Gale, Alastair.
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 25 Mar 2022: A.20.