The United States is concerned after China announced that it has signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands

Children fish on a beach in central Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, on September 14, 2012. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz

SYDNEY/BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Tuesday it had signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands, in a move aimed at escalating concerns from the United States and ally Australia and New Zealand about China’s growing influence in a region traditionally controlled by China. their influence.

However, officials in Solomon Islands earlier appeared to indicate that no agreement had yet been signed.

Douglas Eight, chair of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, told fellow lawmakers that Chinese officials would arrive in mid-May to sign cooperation agreements. Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavari told parliament that the proposed security agreement would not include a Chinese military base.

Etty said the agreements would increase cooperation in trade, education and fisheries, but he opposes the idea of ​​allowing China to set up a military base.

And in Washington, the White House, which is sending a high-level US delegation to the Solomon capital, Honiara, this week, said it was concerned about the “lack of transparency and the uncertain nature” of the deal. Read more

Australian officials said China appeared to want to pre-empt the arrival of the US delegation to Honiara, which the White House said would discuss concerns about China, as well as reopening a US embassy. Read more

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the framework agreement was recently signed by State Councilor Wang Yi and Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele. He did not mention in detail the place and date of signing.

A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said the reported signing “follows a pattern of China offering vague, vague deals with little to no regional consultation in fishing, resource management, development assistance and now security practices.”

The National Security Council later said the United States would “step up its engagement in the region to meet the challenges of the 21st century, from maritime security and economic development to the climate crisis and COVID-19.”

Australian concerns

Canberra is concerned that the agreement could be a step toward a Chinese military presence less than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) from Australian shores.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne said Australia was “deeply disappointed” and was continuing to search for details of the terms of the agreement, noting that the signing had been announced by China.

She also expressed concern about the lack of transparency and said the agreement had “the potential to undermine stability in our region”.

Australia’s national broadcaster ABC said Sugavari plans to make an announcement in the coming days.

Solomon Islands officials had initialed a security agreement with the Chinese embassy allowing Chinese police to protect infrastructure and social order, but ministers had yet to sign it.

Last week, Zed Sesilga, Australia’s Minister for International Development and the Pacific, visited Honiara to ask Sugavari not to sign. Read more

It remains unclear whether the agreement has been finalized, said Greg Pauling, an expert on maritime security for Asia at the Washington Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“So the US delegation, as with the last Australian delegation that visited, is trying to convince the Solomon government to the contrary if possible, or at least clarify the details and implementation plans if that is not the case,” he said.

“The language leaked last week is very vague and therefore there is a lot of room to mitigate the damage by narrowing down how it is implemented.”

A leaked memo surfaced on social media last week showing that Beijing told the Solomon Islands in December that it wanted to send a team of 10 Chinese police with weapons including a sniper rifle and machine guns as well as listening devices to protect embassy staff in the aftermath. From the riots in Honiara. Read more

A separate leaked draft of a security agreement included provisions for Chinese police to protect Chinese companies, infrastructure and naval vessels to replenish their resources in Honiara.

China’s spokesman Wang rejected the planned visit to the United States.

“Deliberate attempts to amplify tensions and mobilize competing camps are doomed to failure,” he said.

Additional reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney, Martin Quinn Pollard in Beijing, David Bronstrom and Michael Martina in Washington; Editing by Michael Perry, William MacLean and Leslie Adler

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