Taipei, Taiwan —
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare of Solomon Islands kicked off his trip to China this week with a clear goal — to deepen bilateral ties with Beijing, causing alarm among some Western nations.
Among the highlights of the trip: Solomon Islands inaugurated its embassy in Beijing and the two countries signed a total of nine documents, including a police cooperation deal that will be effective through 2025.
In response to the signing of the agreements between China and Solomon Islands, the U.S. and Australia have urged Beijing and Honiara to release details of the policing deals.
A spokesperson for Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement that Canberra is concerned that the development will “invite further regional contest.”
In an interview with VOA Mandarin, John Hennessey-Niland, the former U.S. ambassador to Palau, said he is disturbed by the secrecy around the agreements.
"[There are] concerns about what the agreements between Solomon Islands and China may lead to," he said, adding that it could result in a military presence in the middle of the Pacific, which is something that the world wants to avoid.
The deepening partnership between Solomon Islands and China in recent months, especially in security-related sectors, has alarmed Western democracies, such as the U.S. and Australia.
In an attempt to compete for influence with China in the South Pacific, the U.S. opened its embassy in Solomon Islands in February. Regionally, the Biden administration held its first in September 2022 and pledged $810 million to the region in programs that range from fighting the climate crisis to maritime security and education.
Meanwhile, Australia continues to engage in security cooperation and talks with Solomon Islands as part of a decadeslong tradition in which Australia is the primary security provider to the Pacific island nation. Before Sogavare's trip to China, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles was in Honiara for two days to discuss security.
However, following the talks, Sogavare called for a review of , emphasizing the move is necessary to take into account "the changing security challenges faced by both countries."
Some experts view Sogavare's call for a reevaluation of the security partnership with Australia and the decision to sign a new police cooperation deal with China as clear signs that Solomon Islands is shifting its foreign policy focus.
"The decision seems to be pushing out Australia and New Zealand, which have both been involved in keeping the peace and security cooperation and replacing it with China," said Anne-Marie Brady, an expert on China-Pacific politics at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.
She said that the trend is reflecting implications of the China-Solomon security agreement signed last year.
After signing the controversial security pact, which outlined broad conditions under which the Pacific Island nation could ask China to send in armed police and military personnel, Solomon Islands sent a delegation of more than 30 police officers for training in China.
However, Brady highlighted differences between China's police system and that of democratic countries' including Solomon Islands.
Mihai Sora, a former Australian diplomat posted to Solomon Islands and a research fellow in the Pacific Islands program at Lowy Institute, agreed.
"The obvious concern is what impact will it have on Solomon Islands' police force, especially when we think about how the Chinese police force responded to political protests and domestic dissent in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet," Sora told VOA.
Since Solomon Islands switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 2019, Beijing has helped build up key infrastructure in the archipelagic state.
It includes the stadium for the upcoming Pacific Games, a multimillion-dollar cellular network built by the Chinese telecom giant Huawei and financed by a Chinese EXIM bank loan, as well as the redevelopment of a port in the capital, Honiara, that is being spearheaded by a Chinese state company.
Before he departed for Beijing, Sogavare said it is not in Solomon Islands' interest to take sides, saying the island nation is "friends to all and enemies to none."
"Our national interest is development," he said during an annual Independence Day address last Friday. "This position has not changed. It is more urgent than ever."
Despite Sogavare's emphasis on Solomon Islands being neutral, his policies are contradicting that long-standing foreign policy principle, said Brady.