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Solomon Islands leader rules out Chinese military base
The Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands has ruled out a Chinese military base on the Pacific archipelago
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has confirmed he has no intentions of a Chinese military base in the Solomon Islands, after signing an historic security pact with Beijing.
In an interview with The Guardian, Sogavare says a military base with Beijing would make Solomon Islands an “enemy” and “put our country and our people as targets for potential military strikes”.
Sogavare met with Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum, which is taking place in Fiji.
“We are family, there are issues [but] that makes family strong.”
PRIME MINISTER Manasseh Sogavare
The meeting reportedly lasted 15 minutes, where Albanese said the pair spoke about “our common interests that we have of climate change, dealing with the challenge but also regional security issues”.
It follows Australia’s Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison opting out of talking to Sogavare because of advice from “security and intelligence agencies”.
Sogavare has previously branded threats as an “invasion” following its tightened security arrangements with China.
Placing a pulse on the Pacific
China was denied an invitation at this year’s Pacific Islands Forum. However, U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris gave a virtual address.
The Biden Administration will commit USD $600 million to support an envoy to the forum, infrastructure in local fisheries, and brining peace corps volunteers back to the region.
Harris conceded the U.S. has been missing when it comes to the Pacific but has vowed to “change that”. She says the U.S. wants to “significantly deepen our presence in the Pacific region”.
As part of its Pacific push, the U.S. will open embassies in Tonga and Kiribati. The latter is the closest Pacific island nation to the U.S.
However, Kiribati itself is not attending this week’s forum because of tensions over the secretary-general position. But opposition leaders believe China has also influenced this decision, something that Beijing denies.
TICKER NEWS spoke to Ebony Bennett from The Australia Institute, who says the U.S. is “going to re-engage strongly in the Pacific region”.
“The Prime Minister [Manasseh Sogavare] is making the point that they would ever only call on China if Australia can’t fill that security gap, and that Australia remains the security partner of choice for the Solomon Islands.”
Ebony bennett, the australia institute
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently toured the region, where he failed to reach a security and trade deal with 10 Pacific nations.