Scott Morrison says Australia was not blindsided by a draft security deal between China and Solomon Islands, which experts warn has demonstrated a “black and white” intent at expanding influence in the Pacific.
The draft would allow China to base navy warships in the Pacific less than 2,000km off the Australian coast, but some experts, including the Lowy Institute’s Jonathan Pryke, caution it reads more like a “wishlist” from China than a finalised agreement.
While the document still needs to go through the Pacific nation’s cabinet, the Solomon Islands government confirmed on Friday it was seeking to “broaden its security and development cooperation with more countries”, referring to Australia and China as its “two major partners”.
In November, Australia sent more than 100 police and defence force personnel to Solomon Islands to help quell unrest, but found itself in competition with China which also agreed to send police.
Solomon Islands switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to Beijing in 2019, which partly fuelled discontent that led to riots in the capital, Honiara.
On Friday, Morrison told reporters in Sydney that Australia is a “leader” in the region, and having upped its aid contribution from $1.12bn to $1.7bn is “the single largest provider of development assistance into the Pacific”.
The Australian prime minister said that China’s push for a security deal with Solomon Islands highlights “the constant pressure and … push that is coming into the region from interests that are not aligned with Australia’s and not aligned with those of the Pacific”.
Morrison noted Australia had negotiated a bilateral security deal with Solomon Islands in 2017, and is always the “first call” when a crisis arises.
“Now, there are others who may seek to pretend to influence and to seek to get some sort of foothold in the region,” he said.
“So, I think these most recent developments and the uncertainty and instability in the Solomons just highlights once again why it has been so important that we leaned in as heavily as we have.”
Morrison said Australia would “see how [the draft agreement] progresses”. Asked about the prospect of a Chinese naval base so close to Australia, Morrison replied that Australia wanted “a free and open Indo-Pacific”.
“We share with our Pacific family values, we share culture, the principles of democracy and freedom, and these are things that are very important to the Pacific Island peoples.”
In a statement released on Friday, the Solomon Islands’ government seemed to seek to reassure Australia, emphasising that “Solomon Islands values its 2017 Security Agreement with Australia” calling it the Pacific country’s “first Security Agreement”.
“Solomon Islands continues to preserve its Security Agreement with Australia as it develops and deepens its relations with all partners including with China.”
However, the government added that it was “working to broaden its security and development cooperation with more countries”.
In a significant signal, the government statement referred at one point to Australia and China as “Solomon Islands two major partners”.
The government said the agreement with China had a “development dimension to it, covering humanitarian needs of the country besides maintaining rule of law” and was necessary given “the country is located in a global hotspot where the impact of climate change is three times the global average.”
“More development cooperation is being sought within and externally to ensure the country is put back on track especially during this difficult time with the impact of COVID-19 on people’s lives, building the economy including damages caused by the recent riots and looting and the population’s wellbeing.”
Pryke, the director of the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands program, told Guardian Australia that caution should be applied to the draft deal that “reads to me as a Chinese-drafted wishlist” and not “earnestly negotiated” yet by Solomon Islands.
“The Australian government has a much more hardened view of China’s intent; this sort of document would not come as a surprise,” he said.
Pryke suggested after years of China saying it is a “benign actor” despite increased geopolitical contestation, the draft deal is proof of China’s intent in “black and white”.
“In a sense it has done a favour to the Australian government and a disservice to China, because it removes strategic ambiguity and reveals that intent.”
But Pryke said Australia should be “alert but not alarmed” because a buildup to a port in Solomon Islands would take several decades.
“There’s all sorts of engagement that China could do to build its way up to a military presence,” he said.
“Get this agreement, start with police, maybe the next step would be to set up some dual-use coast guard facility, then put up a fuel depot.”
“Because it’s happening piecemeal, it’s happening without too much alarm.
“If … at every turn the alarm is raised and it gets international attention and forces Solomon Islands to react, it reduces the likelihood of them moving on to the next step.”
Earlier, the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, said if reports of the deal are correct “then this would have real implications for the region, and is of concern”.
“Australia needs to be a partner of choice in the Pacific,” he told reporters in Shellharbour. “We were that for a long period of time.
“When this government came to office and withdrew funding, in terms of its aid and its presence in the Pacific, that was an error of judgment,” he said.
“We have had the Pacific step-up in terms of rhetoric. That’s a good thing. We need to make sure that we engage with the region.”
