Solomon Islands: China Confirms Signing Security Pact Despite Criticism From US, Australia

On Tuesday, China acknowledged that it had signed a highly monitored security deal with the Solomon Islands, claiming that it was designed to promote peace and stability.

According Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, the treaty "does not target any third party" and is "parallel and complementary to the Solomon Islands' existing bilateral and multilateral security cooperation structures."

US Expresses Concern Over China-Solomon Islands Pact

China pledged to support the Solomon Islands in strengthening its capacity building to preserve its own security, Wang added, citing areas of cooperation as maintaining social order, securing people's lives and property, humanitarian assistance, and natural disaster response.

Although there has been speculation that the arrangement may allow China's navy, police, and armed forces to deploy in the nation, Wang did not give any information about military cooperation. The Solomon Islands has previously said that a Chinese military base would not be permitted there, as per SCMP.

The Solomon Islands originally announced its intention to create a security agreement with Beijing in March, alarmed the US and its allies Australia and New Zealand. The confirmation came as Washington warned that the agreement would destabilize the region and said it would dispatch top officials to the Solomon Islands this week.

Australia, which has a security relationship with the Pacific island nation, has also attempted to persuade its neighbor to distance itself from Beijing.

Following an announcement in February that it would open an embassy in the Solomon Islands, the White House announced on Monday that Kurt Campbell, the National Security Council's coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs, and assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink would be sent there.

The US, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia have all expressed worry over a security arrangement negotiated between China and the Solomon Islands that allows Beijing's warships to dock there. It is the first agreement of its sort signed by China's Communist dictatorship with a Pacific Ocean nation. However, White House National Security Council spokesman Adrienne Watson responded to the announcement by saying that China's presence in the Solomon Islands posed "severe concerns" to the Indo-Pacific's free and open characteristics, Republic World reported.

Solomon Islans Defends Security Pact With China

The pact was signed by China and the Solomon Islands on Tuesday. However, authorities from the South Pacific islands first appeared to indicate that the signature was still pending, according to reports. Chinese officials will visit next month to sign the deal, according to Douglas Ete, chairman of Parliament's public accounts committee.

Manasseh Sogavare, the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands, stated that a military base will not be included in the security pact with China. However, Ete stated that the agreements with China will mostly focus on commerce, education, and fisheries cooperation.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands confirmed Wednesday that his government had signed a new security agreement with China, but he assured lawmakers that it would not "undermine the peace and harmony of our region," as the opposition and countries such as the United States and Australia had feared.

Last month, a copy of the deal was posted online, and China's Foreign Ministry declared Tuesday that it had been signed "the other day" while Sogavare said it had been signed "a few days ago."

Last week, Australia dispatched Sen. Zed Seselja, the minister for international development and the Pacific, to meet with Sogavare and persuade him not to sign the pact. Kurt Campbell, the National Security Council's Indo-Pacific coordinator, and Daniel Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, are scheduled to visit the nation for discussions this week, as per AP News via MSN.