Australia, Solomon Islands to Review Security Pact

Facts

• Concluding his two-day visit to the Solomon Islands, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles on Thursday offered to extend the presence of Australian troops and police in the country amid growing cooperation between China and the Pacific nation.¹
• Following a meeting with Marles, Solomon Islands PM Manasseh Sogavare on Wednesday called for an overhaul of the Solomon Islands-Australia security pact to meet the changing security challenges of both countries, the prime minister's office said.²
• The bilateral security treaty between Australia and the Solomon Islands dates back to 2017 and allows for Australian police and defense forces to deploy quickly to the Solomon Islands if needed and with the agreement of both countries.³
• On Thursday, Marles confirmed that the security agreement would be updated and offered to extend the Australian-led Solomon Islands International Assistance Force's (SIAF) mandate beyond 2023 to support the Pacific nation's police force.⁴
• In addition to Australia, which is a major aid donor and maintains decades-long security ties with the Solomon Islands, the SIAF includes Fiji and New Zealand police forces that were deployed to the Solomon Islands in 2021 to help end anti-government protests.⁵
• In 2022, Sogavare signed a security pact with China, with Chinese police playing a growing role in training and equipping the Solomon Islands police. Beijing also pledged to assist local police during the China-funded Pacific Games in Honiara in November.⁶

Sources: ¹Radio Free Asia, ²Al Jazeera, ³The Straits Times, ⁴Australian Financial Review, ⁵ThePrint, and ⁶Fiji Broadcasting Corporation.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Foreign Policy. In the context of the US-China regional geopolitical rivalry, the fact that Australia, a close ally of Washington, and the Solomon Islands will renew their security pact is another stage victory for the US. Although Beijing signed its first-ever security agreement with the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific last year, recent regional developments suggest that Washington, through its regional allies, is outperforming Beijing on security. If the US now also adopts a competitive economic strategy, it might win the strategic race against China.
• Narrative B, as provided by Solomon Star News. With all the geopolitical considerations, what's best for the people is often not addressed. Given the internal security problems that the Solomons have faced since independence in 1978, the government had to look abroad for support, which also led to the signing of security agreements with Australia and China. Moving forward, however, Honiara needs to leverage existing security treaties to build its own capacity in order to reduce dependence on external forces and avoid becoming a pawn in the competition between the West and China.

Predictions