Defence Minister Peter Dutton claims the federal government wasn’t caught off guard by a deal between the Solomon Islands and China that could lead to Beijing establishing a military base close to Australian shores.
The two nations have inked a draft agreement that would allow the Solomon Islands to ask China to send police, military personnel and other armed forces to the country, sparking alarm in the Pacific.
Australian and New Zealand officials are alarmed by the security deal and have raised concerns it could allow China to establish a naval base less than 2000km from Australia and undermine stability in the region.
News of the agreement broke last week after a draft copy of the deal was leaked online, though Mr Dutton on Friday claimed it hadn’t come as a surprise to Australian officials.
“It hasn’t caught us off guard at all. We’ve been obviously working with Solomon Islands,” he told the ABC.
“And we don’t publicly broadcast discussions that are held in private and our views are expressed and the way in which we seek to negotiate with countries including Solomon Islands.”
However, Mr Dutton said it was very hard to take Beijing “at face value” regarding its plans in the Pacific and the Solomon Islands deal was a very concerning development.
“When they say this is not about a military port, we know that they’ve been trying to get into Papua New Guinea and elsewhere to build ports, we know that they’re already in Sri Lanka,” he said.
Mr Dutton noted China’s military expansion in the South China Sea, drawing parallels between the actions of Beijing and the Russian aggression in eastern Europe amid the conflict in Ukraine.
“Every effort that we’re making at the moment is to try and deter any acts of aggression, to try and stop China heading down a path where they, you know, could deviate from a peaceful course,” he said.
“Nobody wants that but, equally, nobody wanted or expected what’s happened in Ukraine. Even a couple of years ago, nobody was predicting that would take place.”
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare this week rebuffed criticism of his country’s negotiations with China as “insulting”, saying the deal didn’t necessarily mean a Chinese naval base would be established there.
Asked about these remarks later on Friday, Mr Dutton said he “understood and respected” Mr Sogavare’s perspective.
“But I think we need to be very cautious here because the Chinese are incredibly aggressive,” he said.
“The tactics they’re deploying into small island nations are quite remarkable and Australia’s done more and more each year, but China is certainly on a pathway here.”
“It’s a different scenario if we’ve got military bases starting to pop up close to Australia and close to our neighbours and partners within the Pacific, so I think we should be calling it out.”
Australian Security Policy Institute analyst Marcus Hellyer said Australia should be on alert over the deal, with Beijing’s influence in the South Pacific strengthening.
“One of the problems with our relationship with the South Pacific is that we tend to be very involved for a few years and then we lose interest for a few years,” he told Sky News.
Solomon Islands has only held diplomatic ties with Beijing since 2019 when the Pacific Island nation’s government severed its longstanding allegiance to Taiwan.
