China announced Tuesday the signing of a security agreement with Solomon Islands, at a time when several Western countries, including the United States, have expressed concern about Beijing's military ambitions in the Pacific.
Solomon Islands was shaken at the end of 2021 by deadly unrest, fueled by the resentment of part of the population against China's growing influence.
In Honiara, the capital of this South Pacific archipelago, located about 1,500 km from Australia, vandalism occurred and Chinese businesses burned down.
Australia has been one of the actors in the region that has deployed peacekeeping forces in Solomon Islands at the request of the government.
Beijing, which has sent police instructors and anti-riot teams, has since tried to strengthen its protective device on the island.
In March, a preliminary version of this agreement was leaked, which provoked surprise and criticism as it envisaged the possibility of Chinese military deployments in this Pacific archipelago.
Australia and the United States do not hide their concerns about the possibility of China building a base in the South Pacific region, which would allow it to project its naval military might well beyond its borders.
“Normal cooperation”
Last month, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare confirmed that a security agreement was in preparation with Beijing, but denied the construction of a naval base.
“The Foreign Ministers of China and Solomon Islands recently signed the framework agreement on security cooperation,” a spokesman for Chinese diplomacy, Wang Wenbin, told the press.
This is “normal cooperation between two sovereign and independent countries,” Wang said.
The agreement will support the “long-term stability” of the Solomon Islands, he argued.
In recent weeks, Australia and the United States have intensified their diplomatic efforts to prevent Solomon Islands from approaching Beijing.
“We believe that signing such an agreement would risk further destabilizing Solomon Islands and setting a worrying precedent for the entire Pacific Islands region,” US diplomacy spokesman Ned Price said on Monday.
The United States announced the sending of a high-level diplomatic delegation to the Pacific, with Solomon Islands as a priority to counter Beijing's ambitions.
The White House said Monday that later this week, Kurt Campbell, the coordinator of the National Security Council for the Indo-Pacific Region, and Daniel Kritenbrink, the Undersecretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, will lead a delegation of US government officials to the Islands Solomon and will also visit Fiji and Papua New Guinea.
Last week, Australian Minister of the Pacific, Zed Seselja, was sent to Honiara for an unusual meeting with the island's prime minister.
The prime minister of Solomon Islands has been criticized for wanting to strengthen ties with Beijing after abruptly breaking long-term relations with Taiwan in 2019.
China is opposed to any diplomatic recognition of Taiwan, which it considers part of its own territory.
The communist leadership in Beijing has made it a prerequisite for establishing diplomatic relations with other countries.
(With information from AFP)
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