New Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale said Wednesday he would review a secretive 2022 security pact with Beijing, which rattled Canberra and Washington by opening the door to Chinese forces in the South Pacific.
Asked about that pact alongside Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the Solomons leader — who was elected last month — said he had been “praying and fasting” about the Chinese security deal.
“We are going to be reviewing, as we are reviewing other security agreements that we have with many other countries,” he said.
Asked about Wale’s comments, China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a news conference that Beijing stood “ready to expand pragmatic cooperation with the new government of the Solomon Islands across all fields”.
Australia and the United States have been sharply critical of the 2022 deal over concerns it could allow a permanent Chinese navy presence in the South Pacific.
It was signed under one of Wale’s predecessors, Manasseh Sogavare, who was seen as Beijing’s staunchest ally in the South Pacific.
Wale said the deal contained a non-disclosure agreement and he had not seen it until just before his visit to Australia.
“I have had to remove certain people from key positions. I have not been afforded a copy, even, of that agreement, until a day before I left, so I have not had a good look at it,” he told a news conference in Canberra.
Australia is the largest aid donor to the country of 800,000 people that sits 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles) to its north-east, and historically provided police support during crises.
After the Solomons switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to Beijing in 2019 and struck the security pact, relations with Canberra and Washington deteriorated.
Source: Insider Paper
