cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/54132590
Solomon Islands’ newly elected Prime Minister Matthew Wale said on June 3 he would be “reviewing” a secretive 2022 security pact with Beijing, which rattled Canberra and Washington by opening the door to Chinese forces in the South Pacific.
Asked about that pact alongside Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the Solomons leader – who was elected in May – said he had been “praying and fasting” about the Chinese security deal.
“We are going to be reviewing as we are reviewing other security agreements that we have with many other countries,” he said.
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Australia and the United States have been sharply critical of the deal over concerns it could allow a permanent Chinese navy presence in the South Pacific.
It was signed under one of Wale’s predecessors, Manasseh Sogavare, who was seen as Beijing’s staunchest ally in the South Pacific.
Wale said the deal contained a non-disclosure agreement and he had not seen it until just before his visit to Australia.
“I have had to remove certain people from key positions. I have not been afforded a copy, even, of that agreement, until a day before I left, so I have not had a good look at it,” he told a news conference in Canberra.
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Australia is the largest aid donor to the country of 800,000 people that sits 2,000km to its north-east and historically provided police support during crises.
After the Solomons switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to Beijing in 2019 and signed the security pact, relations with Canberra and Washington deteriorated.
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[Australian PM] Albanese said on June 3 the two countries would begin work on a “comprehensive” new treaty as well as deepen ties in policing, with Australia seeking to be the top security partner for the Pacific.
The treaty will be “underpinned by mutual trust, respect, and open dialogue”, Albanese added.
[...]
Australia’s offer to fund the expansion of the Solomons’ own police force had stalled under the previous Solomon Islands government, which allowed Chinese police to enter villages to collect household and biometric data.
Wale also said he was in discussions with Australia and the United States over financing for critical infrastructure such as ports.
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Former Solomon Islands prime minister Sogavare had rejected US offers of infrastructure grants, instead opting to partner with Chinese state companies.
Australia has sought to bind South Pacific countries closer by striking treaties with a string of small but strategically located island states, Tuvalu, Nauru and Papua New Guinea, offering significant economic support in return for curbs on Chinese security ties.