Solomon Islands Won’t Allow Chinese Military Base In a Bid to Reassure Australia

(Bloomberg) -- The Solomon Islands won't allow China to build a naval base off its coast under a proposed security pact, the Pacific Island's leader pledged, in a bid to ease the concerns of nearby Australia.  

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said in a statement Friday that his government understood the consequences of giving Beijing's warships a safe harbor some 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) from the Australian coast, and wouldn't allow that to happen. 

“Government is conscious of the security ramifications of hosting a military base and it will not be careless to allow such initiative to take place under its watch,” he said. “Contrary to the misinformation promoted by anti-government commentators, the agreement does not invite PRC or any other countries for that matter to establish its military base here,” Sogavare said, using an acronym for the People's Republic of China. 

The Solomon Islands confirmed it wanted to broaden its “security and development cooperation” to new countries last Friday, after copies of a draft security agreement with China were leaked on social media. Ministers from Australia and New Zealand voiced concern about the regional impact of such a deal, which would allow Beijing to deploy soldiers and military police to the country if requested by the local government. 

Although China has the world's largest navy by some measures, it has denied claims it's trying to build a “string of pearls” of bases to project power further from its coasts. Still, the U.S. Defense Department said in its annual report on the Chinese military in November that the country may be using commercial maritime ties to establish a more robust logistics network for its navy.

The draft Solomons Island agreement gives Beijing the ability to “make ship visits to, carry out logistical replenishment in, and have stopovers in” the Pacific Islands' waters, according to the leaked copies. 

Sogavare said if China wanted to set up a naval base in the Pacific, it would have done so with Papua New Guinea or Fiji, regional nations that have longstanding bilateral ties with Beijing. The Solomon Islands has only had formal relations with Beijing since 2019, when it switched allegiance from Taiwan.   

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Friday that security cooperation between China and the Solomon Islands was designed to “protect people's safety and property.” “There's no military element to such cooperation,” he added at a regular briefing in Beijing. “Media speculation is purely unfounded and driven by ulterior motives.”

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