By AFP
HONIARA: The Solomon Islands’ prime minister Tuesday rebuked Australian fears a draft security pact between his country and China that leaked online last week would “destabilise” the South Pacific.
In an impassioned speech, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said he found it “very insulting… to be branded as unfit to manage our sovereign affairs or have other motives in pursuing our national interest”.
The proposals in the leaked draft agreement would allow Chinese security and naval deployments to the Pacific island nation, a development that sent shockwaves through Canberra last week.
Sogavare said the pact was yet to be signed but confirmed that his government and counterparts in Beijing had reached agreement on the shape of the deal, although he offered no details.
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While existing security arrangements with Australia would “remain intact”, Sogavare said that “to achieve our security needs, it is clear that we need to diversify the country’s relationship with other countries — and what is wrong with that?”
The prospect of a Chinese naval base in the South Pacific has long been a concern for Australia and the United States because it would allow Beijing to project power deep into the region.
“We would be concerned by any actions that destabilise the security of our region,” Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement last week.
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But Sogavare labelled concern from “many leaders” about China’s presence threatening regional security in the Pacific as “unfortunate perceptions”.
The Solomon Islands were rocked by unrest last November when protesters tried to storm the parliament and then went on a deadly three-day rampage, torching much of Chinatown in the capital of Honiara.
More than 200 peacekeepers from Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand were deployed to restore calm and Sogavare managed to avoid being deposed.
The riots were sparked by a range of tensions, including opposition to Sogavare’s rule, inter-island rivalries and high unemployment, but anti-China sentiment also played a key role.
Leaders on the most populous island of Malaita fiercely oppose Sogavare’s decision to shift diplomatic ties from Taiwan to Beijing in 2019, a switch that became a lightning rod for broader frustration about Chinese investment in the Pacific island nation.
