China signs security deal with Solomon Islands: Chinese foreign ministry
China has signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday, despite the US, Australia and New Zealand expressing concerns about Chinese influence in the region.
The framework pact was recently signed by State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters at a regular briefing in Beijing.“Deliberate attempts to inflate tensions and mobilise rival camps are also doomed to fail,” Wang, the Chinese spokesman, said on Tuesday, when asked about the US officials’ scheduled visit.
In its first public intervention in the geopolitical rift that is dominating the region, Washington urged Solomons to remember that Australia led the multinational peacekeeping force that restored order after riots in Honiara in November and suggested China’s presence would destabilise an already volatile situation.
“We believe that signing such an agreement could increase destabilisation within Solomon Islands and will set a concerning precedent for the wider Pacific Island region.”The Solomons lies less than 2000 kilometres from Australia’s east coast and is on a key shipping route between Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the US. The country has been beset by poverty, corruption and poor infrastructure, pushing its leaders closer to promises of Chinese investment.
Price said Campbell intended to “share perspectives, to share interests, to share concerns” while in Honiara but did not say when he would arrive.
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