United States President Joe Biden is reportedly dispatching one of his top officials to Solomon Islands as concerns grow over a soon-to-be-signed security pact with China.
Last month, a senior Australian defence figure warned that a Chinese naval presence in the strategically located Pacific nation would "change the calculus" for Australia's military.
This week, two of Australia's top intelligence officials, Australian Secret Intelligence Service boss Paul Symon, and the Director-General of the Office of National Intelligence, Andrew Shearer, met with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.
Kurt Campbell — who serves as the US National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific — will now also travel to the tiny Pacific nation in April, according to the Financial Times.
According to the Financial Times, Mr Campbell will be accompanied by a top State Department official, Daniel Kritenbrink, for the visit.
Under a leaked draft of the China-Solomon Islands deal, Beijing would be allowed to station navy ships and defence personnel to protect billions of dollars in Chinese infrastructure investment in the developing country.
On Tuesday, the Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Sameul J Paparo, criticised the potential security pact, describing it as a "secret" arrangement that worried America and its partners.
Dutton says China's assurances are not sincere
Australia's Defence Minister, Peter Dutton, says China's assurances that it was not seeking to establish a military port less than 2,000 kilometres from Australia were not credible.
"At the moment, they're telling the Solomon Islands government that there won't be a military port in the Solomon Islands. I doubt that very much, and I don't think it's sincere, and I think it's propaganda that should be called out," Mr Dutton said.
Mr Dutton, however, declined to say whether he or any other government frontbenchers had recently spoken to any Solomon Islands leaders about Australia's concerns.
"As you know, the Director of National Security and the head of ASIS have most recently been in speaking [to] Prime Minister Sogavare," Mr Dutton told reporters in Townsville.
"There's been a lot of contact through our High Commissioner and through DFAT, and at the [Federal] Police Commissioner level, and many other ways in which we've been able to reach in, both in private and some of which has been disclosed publicly."
Last month, in an address to the Solomon Islands parliament, Mr Sogavare declared that there was no plan to allow China to build a naval or military base in his country, saying the suggestion was "misinformation".
