- Frances Mao
- BBC correspondent
image source,AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE
Australian soldiers were sent to the Solomon Islands last year to help restore order after unrest.
A proposed security treaty between China and a small island nation in the Pacific drew attention late last week.
The leaked draft states that China may deploy troops to the Solomon Islands and may establish a naval base there.
No one is more worried than the Solomon Islands’ southern neighbor, Australia. Australia is a key regional member of the Aukus alliance, which stems from a new security agreement between the US and the UK in the Pacific.
“The details of this agreement are still uncertain. But even if it is smaller than the military base feared, it will be China’s first stronghold in the Pacific,” said Alan Ginger, a professor at the Australian Institute of International Affairs. Gyngell) said.
The Solomon Islands and Australia have long been linked. Since World War II, Australia has been the island nation’s largest donor, development partner, and so far its only security partner.
Analysts pointed out that the Australian government has been hit and may not be able to do this. Not that Australia wasn’t warned. Five years ago, Canberra realized China was encroaching on its “backyard” by engaging in Solomon’s internal affairs, when China increased lending and economic investment.
That has prompted Canberra to hit back with an “escalation” policy, refocusing its attention on its “Pacific family” and increasing aid funding from the country.
But analysts say China’s promotion of Australia’s neighbour as a security partner has clearly exposed the failure of Canberra’s engagement policy.
“The goal has to be to prevent something like that from happening. You can’t read otherwise, it’s a failure of Australian diplomacy,” Ginger said.
It’s not just a big thing in Australia. The Australia-UK-US pact, announced six months ago, is aimed at countering China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific. The United States and other Western allies have expressed concern about another potential battleground for conflict.
What does the draft say?
In addition to existing infrastructure and other business investments, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has staunchly defended the country’s right to seek a security deal with China.
“We have no intention of being involved in any geopolitical power struggle,” he told parliament on Tuesday, saying his country would not “take sides”.
He has not confirmed whether the leaked draft is the final version. But the draft is so broad that it raises alarm.
image source,Reuters
Solomon broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 2019 and established diplomatic ties with China.
The terms of the agreement included that China could send naval ships “to conduct stopovers and transitions” on the islands, raising concerns about the construction of potential military bases.
The agreement also allows Beijing to deploy troops to protect the Chinese and Chinese projects on the island. Under the draft, Solomon Islands could ask China to send “police, armed police, military personnel and other law enforcement and armed forces”.
“There is an opportunity for China to deploy any type of personnel, but the scope of deployment is not clearly defined, nor is it clearly defined,” said Mihai Sora, a Pacific Islands analyst at Australia’s Lowy Institute. will have power.”
It’s far more far-reaching than Solomon Islands’ only other security deal with Australia.
The agreement with Australia is largely related to peacekeeping, allowing for the rapid deployment of troops on request to the Solomon Islands, which has a long history of violent unrest.
The deal was reactivated last year when deadly riots broke out in the capital Honiara, prompting the deployment of troops from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Vanuatu.
worry
A proposed security deal between the Solomon Islands and China could change the balance in the region.
“Security agreements are not just about the terms they contain, they imply a level of intimacy, cooperation and trust between nations,” Sora said.
The presence of Chinese troops in the Pacific would also completely destroy the “benign” environment that countries have enjoyed for decades, which is currently maintained by Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands Forum countries.
Australia has expressed concern that the move could “undermine the stability and security of the region”, while New Zealand has spoken out against “the potential militarization of the region”.
Analysts say the Chinese threat on Australia’s doorstep is less about aggression and more about more immediate short-term issues, such as Beijing’s increased intelligence gathering and detection.
Even a smaller Chinese military could help establish its first foothold in the South Pacific, something Australia would have to consider as it could drain its own military resources.
“It’s not about what a Chinese base in the Solomon Islands will bring in a conflict, we’re nowhere near that,” Sora said.
“When you deploy troops in an area, you rule out (military capabilities) in that area, and you rule out (the possibility) of other countries entering the area.”
The worst-case scenario, he said, could be an escalation of tensions in the South China Sea, where Beijing has built artificial islands and installed military equipment in the disputed waters to keep other countries’ navies and air forces out.
“Australia and other Pacific nations have enjoyed a benign zone so far and freedom within our zone in the Pacific.”
“So this provides a clear and solid strategic edge to the competition.”
