The Solomons-China Security Pact … but Not Secure for Us! By James Reed
Australians should be extremely worried about the communist China-Solomon Islands security pact, which will see the CCP establishing naval vessels on the island. How about nuclear weapons pointed at every Australian city? And, with this existential threat, we have the Greens saying that such concerns are “racist,” as if that abused word kills the debate. These useful idiots also want Australia defence spending slashed. They effectively surrender to the CCP now. Anything here taken as electoral comment: written and authorised by K. W. Grundy 13 Carsten Court, Happy Valley, SA.
“The Greens say Australia's approach to burgeoning relations between China and the Solomon Islands is 'actually racist' and wants to decrease spending on defence.
Senator Jordon Steele-John told The Australian they 'absolutely oppose' further inflaming tensions with China and accused Liberal and Labor of turning the country into 'an American aircraft carrier'.
The young MP said concern over the China-Solomons relationship was 'paternalistic and actually racist'.
'We must have an independent foreign and defence policy, which allows us to work with our neighbours to de-escalate,' he told the publication.
Peter Jennings, the executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute said in response the Greens should be included in the country's classified briefings to better understand its 'insane' approach to relations.
He said the Greens' methodology would see the country 'effectively turn Australia into a non-aligned neutral (state) with a defence budget about the level of New Zealand's.
'And that would make us ripe for the picking in terms of China's attempts to dominate the region and our island neighbours.
'It's crazy stuff but also dangerous in the sense that if the Greens were controlling the balance of power in parliament somewhat, they would have to be educated about this issue.'
Defence Minister Peter Dutton said their thinking was 'dangerous at exactly the wrong time'.
'We've got the Greens out today – who if Mr Albanese is to be prime minister would be in government with the Greens – talking about closing down Pine Gap, stripping billions of dollars from the Australian Defence Force,' he said.
'As you've seen the Greens out today saying that they see no threat from China militarising ports in the Indo-Pacific – I mean we are going to need more surface fleet vessels. We are going to need more submarines. We are going to need more assets in the sky.
'There's more investment that we're making with industry partners ... in drone technology, in autonomous vehicle technology.
'All of that is going to be part of the defence picture over the course of the next few years, the next couple of decades as well.'
A spokesperson for ALP said the China-Solomons deal would have 'serious implications' for Australia.
'Australia should be the partner of choice for our Pacific partners to address shared challenges but the Morrison government's failure to deliver real climate action has undermined this,' he said.
'Labor supports AUKUS and recognises the Defence budget will need to grow'.
“The rumours started in August.
Chatter surfaced among the political class in Honiara that China and Solomon Islands were negotiating a security agreement which could allow Beijing to send military and police personnel to its new Pacific ally, and base naval vessels on the islands.
If the rumours proved to be true, it would be the first known bilateral security agreement between China and a country in the Pacific, a region that has become the centre of a geopolitical and strategic tug of war between China and the US and Australia in recent years. And if Australia’s gravest fears were realised, such an agreement could also allow China to establish a military base less than 2,000km from its eastern border.
Matthew Wale, the leader of the Solomon Islands opposition, says he first learned of the proposed deal in mid-2021 from a source. He claims the deal was being negotiated by a very small team of elected representatives trusted by the prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, but was being kept secret from everyone outside this tight circle including the rest of Sogavare’s cabinet.
“They were concerned and raised it with me and I obviously was extremely concerned,” he says.
In March, these fears proved to be justified when the draft text of the security agreement, granting Chinese military and police significant access to Solomon Islands, was leaked online. The news set off shockwaves that were felt in Canberra, Wellington and Washington.
According to accounts from diplomatic sources, politicians and analysts, the China-Solomons security pact was a deal shrouded in secrecy, which took diplomats and government officials – even from within Solomon Islands – by total surprise, prompting a scramble by western powers to try to block Chinese influence in the region and outrage among Solomon Islanders.
In response to the leak, two delegations were dispatched from Australia to Honiara, and this week two top US officials, including Kurt Campbell, the national security council Indo-Pacific coordinator, will land in the capital.
But the hurried diplomatic overtures proved fruitless. Late on Tuesday, China’s foreign ministry announced that the deal had been signed.
Caught ‘off guard’
It was sign of just how closely guarded the deal was that news only emerged publicly seven months after the first rumours began. On 24 March Dr Anna Powles, a senior lecturer in security studies at Massey University in New Zealand, posted a series of tweets that contained photographs of the leaked security agreement, setting off alarm bells across the region.
“I really weighed it up quite heavily about whether or not to put it on to Twitter,” said Powles. “Given the secrecy around the document and the contents of the agreement, I was certainly pleased that some light was going to be shone on it.”
“It’s confirmation of what Canberra and Wellington have long suspected,” said Powles.
But the deal was news to many, reportedly including key government officials from within Sogavare’s government.
The Guardian is aware of at least one senior Solomon Islands diplomat who learned of the deal’s existence from Powles’ post and urgently rushed to have someone text him a link to it.
Christian Mesepitu, the premier of Western Province, said the premiers had likewise not been consulted. “Like many other Solomon Islanders, we were only made aware of the security arrangement on social media, and we are indeed very concerned,” he told Solomon Business magazine.
In the days after the leak, New Zealand’s defence minister, Peeni Henare, said he and the Australian defence minister, Peter Dutton, had been caught “off guard” by the draft deal.
“We were both surprised, because the intelligence we were getting didn’t exactly match that,” Henare told Stuff. “We knew that there were some challenges there, with respect to China, but the leaked draft agreement … it did catch me as a surprise, and even minister Dutton.”
James Batley, the former Australian high commissioner to Solomon Islands, says the secrecy around the deal was to be expected. “The Solomon Islands government would be aware of the sort of reaction this would’ve caused in Australia, New Zealand, the US etc, so I think the idea would’ve been: let’s complete this before it becomes public.
“The idea that Solomons could be surprised by [the] reactions of countries like Australia to this beggars belief. They have very experienced people working there.”
But Wale claims that Australia should not have been shocked by the news when it leaked. He says he tried to raise the alarm, telling Australia’s high commissioner to Solomon Islands, Lachie Strahan, about the deal in August or September 2021. He said Strahan “took note of it and that’s the last I heard”.
The Australian department of foreign affairs disputes this, with a spokesperson saying “The Australian high commissioner to Solomon Islands met with opposition leader Wale in May 2021, not August 2021. Opposition leader Wale and officials did not discuss a possible security agreement with China during this meeting or any other.”
Announcing the signing of the deal in parliament, Sogavare said: “Let me assure the people that we entered into an arrangement with China with our eyes wide open guided by our national interests.”
However, Batley doubts that much negotiation actually took place between Beijing and Honiara.
“The text looks like it was drafted in Beijing and presented to Solomon Islands,” he said. “I think the initiative would’ve come from Beijing. I don’t think Solomon Islands went to China and said: ‘please can we have a security agreement?’
“I don’t think there’s been a lot of negotiation around it to be honest. I think the language that is used is very much in China’s interest and not in Solomon Islands’ interest. If the initiative had come from Solomon Islands you’d expect it to be modelled on agreements that already exist between Solomon Islands and Australia and New Zealand.”
Australia, the old worn-out supply chain argument against invasion has now collapsed.
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