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(Bloomberg) — The new leader of the Solomon Islands will review a 2022 security deal with China, an agreement that sparked alarm from Australia, the US and others.
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“We are going to be reviewing, as we are reviewing security agreements that we have with many other countries,” Prime Minister Matthew Wale told reporters on Wednesday in Canberra, where he’s on his first international trip since taking office last month. Wale said that he had only seen the text of the deal a day earlier, and the cabinet will now review it.
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Australia has been trying to shore up its influence with Pacific states, signing deals with Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, Nauru, Indonesia and others as it seeks to contain China’s efforts to project power further afield.
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The 2022 deal between Beijing and the Solomon Islands was a significant crack in that effort, and Canberra has repeatedly called for transparency around the agreement. Wale has said previously that the text of the deal should be made public, but he noted Wednesday that it contains a non-disclosure clause.
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“We have sought a reset in this relationship. We acknowledge there’s been problems in the last couple of years,” Wale said after his meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
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The two leaders “agreed to commence negotiations towards a comprehensive treaty to capture the two countries’ joint ambition for the relationship,” according to a joint statement.
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Australia will provide about A$35 million ($25 million) to help the recovery from a recent cyclone and to deal with rising energy costs, the statement said, which also welcomed the growing cooperation on policing.
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While there was no details on increasing security cooperation, Albanese emphasized that “we want Australia to be the security partner of choice in our region and we want the Pacific family to look after our security in this region.”
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The two nations will also move to the “next phase” of their policing partnership program to build capability, Albanese told reporters, welcoming Wale’s decision to sign onto the “Pacific Policing Initiative” between Canberra and a number of other regional countries.
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(Updates with details on police cooperation in final paragraphs.)
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English (US)