Australia’s web of Pacific alliances set to expand to Solomons
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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attending the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ plenary meeting in Koror, Palau, on Sept 2.
PHOTO: AFP
- Australia is finalising a treaty with the Solomon Islands, including A$980 million in extra funding, to strengthen diplomatic and security ties.
- Solomon Islands’ Prime Minister Matthew Wale shifted focus from China to Australia and the US, reversing previous pro-China policies.
- The treaty is part of Australia’s broader strategy to limit Chinese influence in the Pacific amid rising US-China tensions, supported by regional security agreements and condemnation of China’s missile test.
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SYDNEY – Australia is in the process of finalising a treaty with another Pacific island nation, with the national broadcaster reporting that Canberra has struck an “in-principle” agreement with the Solomon Islands.
The two nations will work to sign the deal in the coming weeks, Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) reported, citing unidentified government officials. The news comes after Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale saw off a challenge to his leadership from within his Cabinet, with the rival withdrawing at the weekend.
Australia has pledged A$980 million (S$895 million) in extra funding for the Solomon Islands government, according to a leaked text message from the Australian ambassador that was also reported by ABC. Once finalised, the deal would represent a significant diplomatic victory for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government. The Solomon Islands shot to geopolitical prominence in 2022 when then Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare signed a security pact with China, provoking alarm in Canberra and Washington.
Albanese was elected prime minister just weeks after the Solomons-China agreement was revealed, and has worked over the past four years to both reverse that deal and rebuild ties with the archipelago nation. Since Wale came to power in May, he has shifted his government’s diplomatic focus back to Australia and the US, breaking with previous administrations’ tilt towards Beijing.
Wale’s first overseas trip was to Canberra in June, with Albanese then reciprocating in July, when he travelled to Honiara and announced the start of the negotiations for the treaty. That meeting came a day after Albanese signed two new deals with Fiji, including a military alliance, which New Zealand has also expressed an interest in joining.
Those talks are all part of a web of security and policing agreements that Australia has established with nations such as Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, Nauru, Indonesia and others as it seeks to limit Chinese influence in the region. Canberra is also strengthening security ties with Japan, including plans to purchase Japanese-made naval vessels.
China’s test of a submarine-launched, nuclear-capable ballistic missile in the Pacific region in early July also focused regional leaders’ attention on the risks of growing US-China strategic competition. Australia, Palau, New Zealand and others immediately condemned the test.
While Pacific nations were initially unable to agree on a joint response to China’s move, at the Pacific Islands Forum last week in Palau, all but one of the 18 member nations signed a statement calling out the firing of the missile and demanding proper advance notification and transparency.
BLOOMBERG