Doubts over Solomons security pact leak timeline
QUESTIONS have been raised over when Australia’s government became aware of a draft security pact between China and Solomon Islands, after reports that Australian intelligence agencies were involved in its leaking.
An Australian intelligence agency was aware of the pact days ahead of it being made public in March, and played a role in the leaking of the text on to social media, according to Nine newspapers, quoting government and security sources.
The claim brings into question comments by Foreign Minister Marise Payne, who said she only became aware of the draft agreement after it was leaked online.
Meanwhile, Treasurer Josh
Frydenberg has launched an attack against Labor deputy leader Richard Marles for comments about Chinese investment in the Solomons, despite Prime Minister Scott Morrison using similar language.
Marles had encouraged Chinese investment in the region. But comments by Morrison featuring similar language, in an address to the University of Melbourne in 2019, have also resurfaced.
‘‘The infrastructure needs of the region are enormous, and Australia welcomes the contribution that the Belt and Road Initiative can make to regional investment and to regional development,’’ Morrison said.
The Biden Administration has warned Solomon Islands that the United States will take unspecified action against the South Pacific nation should its recently concluded cooperation agreement with China pose a threat to US or allied interests.
The White House said the message was delivered directly to the country’s leadership by a visiting senior US delegation.
The delegation expressed concern that the deal with China raised questions about its scope and purpose, according to the White House, which also criticised the lack of transparency about the agreement, and cast doubt on Solomons officials’ claims that the deal was purely domestic.
The security pact has alarmed neighbouring countries and Western allies, who fear a
Chinese military buildup in the region.
The White House statement said Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare had assured the US that there would be no long-term Chinese presence on the islands, and no power projection capability.
A draft of the pact, which was leaked online, said Chinese warships could stop in the Solomons for logistical replenishment, and China could send police and armed forces there ‘‘to assist in maintaining social order’’.
The Solomons and China have not released the final version of the agreement.
During the visit, the US delegation also discussed plans to reopen an embassy in the Solomons capital Honiara. The embassy has been closed since 1993.