China’s government announced on April 19 that it had signed a landmark security pact with the Solomon Islands, evoking concern from Australia and the U.S. The agreement is the first of its kind that China has agreed with any country, and underlines its ambitions to play a security role in the Pacific. The final version has not been made public, but according to a draft that was leaked last month, it will pave the way for China to deploy its security forces there. The Solomon Islands can request police and military personnel “to assist in maintaining social order”, while China can make ship visits and use its ports for logistics. This will give China’s vessels a strategic foothold in the Pacific, in a region close to Australia and Guam, where the U.S. has a naval base. Both countries unsurprisingly expressed concern, with Washington, this week, even dispatching a senior official and Indo-Pacific Coordinator, Kurt Campbell, to the Solomon Islands, who will take up the pact as well as plans to reopen the U.S. Embassy there. China questioned the motivations of the visit, noting that the Embassy had been closed for 29 years but the U.S. had now taken a “sudden” interest.
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