China, Solomon Islands sign security accord

HONIARA • The Solomon Islands yesterday said it has inked a wide-ranging security pact with Beijing, an agreement that Western allies fear will pave the way for a first Chinese military foothold in the South Pacific.

"Officials of Solomon Islands and the People's Republic of China have initialled elements of a bilateral Security Cooperation Framework between the two countries today," said a statement from the Prime Minister's Office in Honiara, adding that the draft "will be cleaned up and await signatures of the two countries' foreign ministers".

The pact was a response to "domestic threats", it said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters the framework agreement had been initialled by officials from both sides "following friendly consultations... and approval by the two governments".

The agreement would deepen cooperation on maintaining social order, protecting lives and property, and disaster response, he added.

The Solomon Islands confirmed last Friday that it was creating a partnership with China to address security threats and ensure a safe environment for investment as part of a diversification of its security relations.

Australia and New Zealand had expressed concern about the agreement and its impact on regional security. A security pact would be a major inroad for China in a region that United States allies Australia and New Zealand have for decades seen as their "backyard".

The security pact with China would also match one the Solomon Islands has with Australia that allows for the deployment of armed forces.

The leader of the Federated States of Micronesia had urged the Solomon Islands not to sign the pact, saying he had "grave security concerns" and feared the Pacific could become embroiled in war between China and the US.

"My fear is that we - the Pacific Islands - would be at the epicentre of a future confrontation between these major powers," Micronesia's President David Panuelo wrote in a letter to the leader of the Solomon Islands, according to a copy seen by Reuters yesterday.

"It's not an impossible fear; it has happened before. Both the Federated States of Micronesia and Solomon Islands were the battlegrounds during World War II," Mr Panuelo wrote, while noting that the US and China were increasingly at odds.

Micronesia has defence ties with the US as well as a diplomatic and economic relationship with China, he said.

An Australian defence official said the country's navy would change its patrol patterns if the Solomon Islands formed a military agreement with China, because of the proximity to Australia.

"It does change the calculus if Chinese naval vessels are operating from the Solomon Islands," Lieutenant-General Greg Bilton, chief of joint operations, told reporters.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS