Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit the Solomon Islands this week in what the leader of the South Pacific nation said was a “milestone” in his country’s relationship with Beijing.
The visit comes amid concerns that a new security pact could allow Chinese military personnel on the islands.
But Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare insisted in a statement posted on his government’s website on Tuesday that the partnership with Beijing did not come at the expense of ties with Australia, the United States and others.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on the left and Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare review a guard of honor during a welcoming ceremony at the Beijing People’s Hall on Wednesday, October 9, 2019. (AP Photo / Mark Schiefelbein) (AP)
Wang’s visit at the head of a 20-person delegation on Thursday and Friday comes amid growing concerns about China’s influence on the strategically important Solomon Islands.
Wang will be the highest-ranking Chinese representative to visit the country since the two nations formalized diplomatic relations 32 months ago, the Solomon Islands Foreign Ministry said after Sogavare changed Taiwan’s recognition to Beijing. .
The Chinese Foreign Ministry later said Wang would also visit Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and East Timor on a 10-day trip. While in Fiji, he will host a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Pacific Island nations, he said.
“It is believed that the meeting will play an important role in promoting solidarity and cooperation between China and the Pacific island countries and in advancing the development of our relations,” the ministry spokesman said in Beijing. Foreign Affairs, Wang Wenbin.
The security agreement, signed in April, would allow Beijing to send police and military personnel to the Solomon Islands “to help maintain social order” and allow Chinese warships to call at the port for the “Solomon Islands”. logistics replacement “.
Sogavare, who defends the pact as “internal security,” said Wang’s visit would include the signing of a series of “key bilateral agreements.”
FILE – Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi talks at a ceremony to mark the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Solomon Islands and China at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing on September 21, 2019. China’s Foreign Minister Wang will visit the Solomon Islands this week in what the leader of the South Pacific nations said was a milestone in his country’s relationship with China , amid concerns over its security pact that could allow Chinese military personnel on the islands. (AP Photo / Sea (AP)
“Prime Minister Sogavare expects a productive engagement with the PRC (People’s Republic of China) as a major development partner at a very critical time in our history,” another statement said on Monday.
“My government welcomes all high-level visits from our key development partners,” Sogavare said in a statement.
“We will always adhere to our policy of ‘Friends of all and enemies of all,’ while we look forward to continuing productive relations with all of our development partners.”
The news of the visit came when US President Joe Biden met in Tokyo with members of the Quad group of nations – the United States, Japan, Australia and India – which has returned every increasingly relevant as the U.S. focuses on security in the Indo-Pacific to counter the Chinese conflict. growing influence.
Meetings included newly elected Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, whose party has vowed to establish a Pacific defense school to train neighboring armies in response to China’s possible military presence in the Solomon Islands. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is being escorted by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. at the start of their bilateral meeting alongside the Quad Leaders Summit. (AP)
After Albanese’s victory, Sogavare congratulated him, assuring the new Prime Minister “that the Solomon Islands remain Australia’s firm friend and preferred development partner”.
The United States, Australia, and others had urged the Solomon Islands not to sign the pact with China out of concern that it could destabilize the country and set a worrying precedent for the Pacific region.
Wang, the Chinese spokesman, said China expects the US to “refrain from interfering in the sovereign decisions of the South Pacific island nations over normal cooperation with other countries.”
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China backtracked last week on allegations that the pact was being used to pressure Pacific countries, and another Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said it was based on mutual respect and that ” it promotes stability and peace, in accordance with shared interests. ” in the South Pacific. “
“Australia claims the Solomon Islands as its backyard and wants to establish a red line,” Zhao said. “Isn’t that coercion?”