“It is another difficult step for Australia in reassessing its future in a China dominated region,” Harrison said. Mark Harrison, a senior lecturer in Chinese studies at the University of Tasmania, told Al Jazeera the deal was a “disaster” for Australia whose relationship with Beijing has long been strained. The United States and New Zealand have also expressed concern amid worries it could lead to China setting up a military outpost in the Pacific. Australia had also led a 2003 multilateral mission following violence and a coup at the end of the 1990s.Ĭanberra raised alarm about the China pact when the draft was leaked online in March, and was trying to encourage Sogavare to rethink the plan. The Pacific island nation has long struggled with political unrest, most recently in November 2021 when protesters targeted Honiara’s Chinatown and tried to storm Sogavare’s residence.Ī contingent of Australian police helped restore stability following a request from the government. Sogavare told parliament the agreement with Beijing was necessary to deal with the Solomon Islands’s “internal security situation”.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has been defending the security pact his government signed with China on Tuesday.
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