This is a major setback for Australia and the United States. China said Tuesday (April 19) it had signed a framework security cooperation agreement with the Solomon Islands, an archipelago of 700,000 people located about 1,500 kilometers northeast of Australia. The agreement was signed by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Solomon Islands counterpart Jeremiah Manele.
State Department spokesman Wang Wenbin did not say where or when the deal would be closed, but the announcement was made hours before a high-level US delegation sent by the White House would not fly to this archipelago of Melanesia to meet the to share Washington’s concerns. For his part, the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare, indicated on Wednesday 20 April that the agreement had been signed “Open eyes” but declined to say when the content would be made public.
The Reuters agency had revealed in March the contents of the letter of intent signed by Solomon Islands Police Minister Anthony Veke and his Chinese counterpart Wang Xiaohong, Deputy Minister of Public Security. It provides that the Solomon Islands, which occupy a central position on the frontline between the United States and China in the ocean area, “depending on their needs, can ask China for police, military and other armed forces, to maintain social order, to protect human life and property, to provide humanitarian aid or to provide any other form of aid”. China for its part, “can make visits with its boats according to its own needs, provide logistical supplies, perform stopovers and transits. Appropriate Chinese troops can be used to protect workers’ safety and major Chinese projects in the Solomon Islands »†
“A disturbing precedent”
In November 2021, riots shook the archipelago, pitting residents of the main island of Guadalcanal against those of Malaita, whose populations perpetuate long-standing rivalries. Manasseh Sogavare had alleged that protesters protesting the deterioration of their living conditions were being manipulated by those who opposed his decision, taken in 2019, to cease diplomatic relations with Taiwan, in favor of Beijing. More than 200 soldiers and gendarmes from Australia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea were subsequently deployed to the archipelago to restore order.
You still have 47.12% of this article to read. The following is for subscribers only.
