To: TobagoJack who wrote (186619 ) 4/22/2022 9:05:40 AM From: TobagoJack Respond to Tooooooo funnybloomberg.com Why the Solomon Islands’ China Pact Has U.S. Riled Low De Wei Photographer: Gilmore Tana/iStockphoto told his parliament the pact wouldn’t undermine the “peace and harmony of our region.” That hasn’t squelched concerns about a possible Chinese naval base just 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) from Australia.on April 19 -- the day the pact was announced -- that the cooperation would include “maintenance of social order, protection and safety of people’s lives and property, humanitarian assistance and natural disaster response, to help Solomon Islands strengthen capacity building and safeguard its own security.” According to an Associated Press report, Prime Minister Mannesseh Sogavare told his parliament in Honiara a day later that it will allow China to send police and military personnel to the Solomon Islands “to assist in maintaining social order.” Chinese warships also could stop in port there for “logistical replenishment.” Sogavare has insisted the pact would not allow China to construct a military base -- a concern that arose after a draft copy was leaked online in late March -- and has strongly asserted his country’s right to an independent foreign policy. Australian troops to help quell the unrest even as he accused “other powers” of encouraging the anti-China sentiment. A few months later came the security pact with China. sealing of a new defense accord with Australia and the U.K. last year, known as Aukus , and an older grouping known as the Quad that includes Australia, Japan and India, as part of efforts to counter the growing economic, political and military influence of China in the region. News of the pact came days before the Biden administration’s East Asia czar Kurt Campbell was to visit to the islands as part of a U.S. delegation to discuss partnerships to “deliver prosperity, security, and peace across the Pacific Islands and the Indo-Pacific.” In Beijing, Wang Wenbin criticized Western efforts to block the pact, saying: “We must point out that South Pacific island countries are not a backyard of any country, still less a pawn for geopolitical rivalry.”tough on national security , but the diplomatic loss is providing ammunition for attacks on his government’s record. Shadow Foreign Minister Penny Wong called the signing of the security agreement the “worst failure of Australian foreign policy in the Pacific since the end of World War II.”blog post from the Lowy Institute on the Solomons security pact.report on the process leading up to the signing of the pact.a blow to the U.S. and Australia.QuickTake on Aukus, the Quad and Five Eyes, and another on Australia’s election .as— With assistance by Ben Westcott
