A strongly worded document from Tonga's Foreign Affairs Ministry gives insight into the Pacific nation's view of Australia and New Zealand's diplomatic efforts.
The document says Australia and New Zealand are "far removed from Pacific realities" and frequently use "condescending rhetoric".New Zealand says it still has objections to the security pact , while Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has not yet commented
The five-page document calls New Zealand's response to the Solomon Islands-China security agreement "nothing short of frantic" and flags that its then-foreign minister Nania Mahuta had requested a phone call to her Tongan counterpart to express Wellington's "grave" concerns about the pact. But it says that in the end, Solomon Islands is a "sovereign nation and has the right to make decisions about its own security".
And it argues that if the West were unhappy about China's growing role in the Pacific then it would "only need look back at their Pacific rhetoric and their failure to live up to their respective Pacific diplomatic strategies to find solutions" to the region's pressing problems. "It reveals that deep reservations about the China-Solomon Islands security agreement are held by some Pacific governments, but also suggests that the way in which Canberra and Wellington responded to the security deal lacked sufficient understanding of astute Pacific diplomacy."
Diplomacy Scott Morrison Penny Wong Anna Powles
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
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