Australia PM ‘Confident’ No China Navy Base Planned for Solomons

Ben Westcott
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he is “very confident” there won’t be a Chinese military base built in the Solomon Islands, after meeting with Solomons’ leader Manasseh Sogavare.

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Albanese and Prime Minister Sogavare embraced warmly ahead of discussions on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji on Wednesday afternoon, their first meeting since the Australian leader was elected in May.

Australia has been a close security and economic partner of the Solomon Islands but the relationship was shaken in April by news that the Pacific nation had signed a security agreement with the Chinese government.

A leaked draft version of the deal would allow Chinese warships safe harbor in the Solomon Islands, just 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) from Australia’s coast. Details of the final agreement have not been made public.

Albanese said his meeting with Sogavare had been “constructive,” during an appearance on Australia’s Today morning show Thursday, adding he was “very confident” a Chinese military base would not be built in the Solomon Islands as a result of the new security agreement.

Sogavare confirmed Australia would remain the Solomon Islands’ “security partner of choice” in an interview, the Guardian reported Thursday. Sogavare said the agreement with China would only be used if there was a “gap” in the country’s security coverage which Australia couldn’t meet.

A military base in the Solomon Islands would undermine regional security and “put our country and our people as targets for potential military strikes,” Sogavare said in the interview. “Let me assure you all again, there is no military base, nor any other military facility, or institutions in the agreement,” he said.

Albanese said Australia respected the Solomon Islands as a “sovereign nation” which could make its own diplomatic agreements, however he had advocated to Sogavare on behalf of Australia’s national interests.

“The interests of Australia would not be served by having a military base so close to where Australia is,” he said on Today.

In an effort to combat China’s growing influence in the Pacific, US Vice President Kamala Harris announced increased funding for the region and an enlarged diplomatic presence in a virtual address to the Pacific Islands Forum on Wednesday.

US Reveals Pacific Strategy to Counter China’s Influence

The Forum will wrap up with a leaders’ retreat and press conference on Thursday. Albanese is hoping to convince Pacific nations to support Australia’s bid to hold a United Nations COP climate conference in coming years, promoting his government’s commitment to further cut emissions by 2030.

In a social media post Wednesday, Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said Australia needed to be more ambitious in its commitment to fighting climate change.

“Out of the duty I owe every young person in the Pacific, I have urged @AlboMP to go further for our family’s shared future by aligning Australia’s commitment to the 1.5-degree target,” the Fiji leader said.

(Updates with Guardian Sogavare interview from 6th par)

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