China Lies About Military Plans in the Solomon Islands, Leaked Document Reveals

Beijing's assertions regarding its ambitions to build a military base in the Solomon Islands have been contradicted by an official Chinese document.

China has taken great efforts to downplay a deal between the two countries reached last week, which opponents say would result in a Chinese naval station on the Pacific island. Concerns that the treaty may allow for the establishment of a People's Liberation Army post were "utterly false purposely propagated with a political aim," according to the Chinese Embassy in the Solomons.

China Lies About Security Alliance With the Solomon Islands

The spokesperson played off concerns in Canberra, Wellington, and other Pacific Island governments that the deal would lead to the militarization of the area. According to a document obtained by Sky News from Solomon Islands sources, Chinese aspirations to deploy a military presence were considered as early as 2020.

The letter was written by Mr. Rong Qian, President of the Chinese state-owned enterprise Avic International Project Engineering Company, and sent to Leslie Kikolo, former Premier of the Isobel Province. The letter, according to Qian, demonstrates desire to examine the possibility to establish Naval and infrastructural projects for the People's Liberation Navy on the leased territory for the Isobel Province with exclusive rights for 75 years.

Rong Qian says that, before the establishment of a project, China will aid the Solomon Islands in infrastructure, education, and sports, in what appears to be an incentive by the Chinese. In the recent decade, China's influence in the South Pacific has exploded, and numerous nations in the area have signed trade agreements with Beijing. These agreements are part of China's Belt and Road Initiative, a worldwide development strategy aimed at establishing economic lines and expanding Beijing's global influence.

While China does not have foreign military posts like the US, Tarcisius Kabutaulaka, an associate professor at the University of Hawaii, said that Beijing used alliances to expand its security apparatus abroad. China's growing international clout was assisting Beijing in gaining support for its Taiwan policy, according to Dr. Guan. Taiwan is viewed by China as a renegade province that will need to be reunified in the future, whereas Taiwan sees itself as a democracy.

Pacific Countries Are Alarmed With China's Security Deal

The Solomon Islands signed a new diplomatic agreement with China in 2019, ending a 36-year connection with Taiwan. Taiwan has worked hard to build Pacific alliances, but China has won over many of its friends and urged them to embrace the One-China policy.

Taiwan has no official diplomatic connections with countries that recognize the policy. However, Beijing's expanding influence has not pleased everyone in the Solomon Islands, ABCNews via MSN reported. China is dredging Ream Navy Base's harbor to allow ships larger than Cambodia's to berth, as well as constructing new infrastructure to replace a US-built naval tactical headquarters.

A Chinese facility in Cambodia would create a choke point in the Gulf of Thailand, near the strategically important Malacca Strait. China has also financed projects in Gwadar, Pakistan, a close ally, and Hambantota, Sri Lanka, where Chinese infrastructure funding compelled the government to relinquish control of the southern port.

An alleged Chinese drive to create a base in Equatorial Guinea, a West African country, has piqued interest. China would gain a foothold on the Atlantic, opposite the continental US's east coast, as well as in an important African oil-producing area. Around 80 years ago, in the Solomon Islands, the United States military launched its famed World War II "island-hopping" effort to reclaim Pacific islands from Imperial Japanese forces one by one.

After six months of hard battle, it finally reclaimed the main island of Guadalcanal in February 1943. Today, China would have the capacity to interfere with US naval activities in the region, which might be critical in the case of a confrontation over Taiwan or in the South and East China seas, according to Charlotte Observer.