A leaked draft security pact between China and the Solomon Islands might have far-reaching security repercussions for the whole Pacific.
The draft document lays out a wide framework for Chinese deployments to the Solomon Islands, including "police, armed police, military personnel, and other law enforcement and armed forces."
The agreement also authorizes China to make ship visits, offer logistical support, and have stopovers and transitions in the Solomon Islands with the consent of the Solomon Islands.
All Pacific countries have an interest in the region's stability and security. Members of the Pacific Islands Forum, including Australia, pledged in the 2018 Boe Declaration to work together to address regional security problems.
A bilateral deal like the one suggested between China and the Solomon Islands undermines that feeling and demonstrates whoever wrote the leaked draft's initial author's lack of appreciation for the region's overall security.
This proposed agreement's vast scope demonstrates China's geopolitical ambition in the Pacific. It's still unclear if China will be able to create a permanent military post in the Solomon Islands - if anything, this is just the start of many steps toward that aim.
The leaked text is an early copy, and the Solomon Islands will almost certainly want to tighten the scope of the deal, reversing some of China's promised obligations.
Since the changeover of diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 2019, the Solomon Islands' growing ties with China have remained a highly controversial domestic topic.
The transition triggered civil upheaval in Honiara in November 2021, though the fundamental sources of conflict were domestic rather than geopolitical.
The agreement's scope authorizes China to give security assistance to large infrastructure projects.
With China receiving more than 90% of Solomon Islands' extractive resources by weight in 2019, and Chinese state-owned enterprises promising a slew of major infrastructure projects in the country, such an agreement could be tied to Sogavare's attempt to deliver on his promise of increased economic benefits to the Solomon Islands as a result of the switch.
After the Solomon Islands revealed it was forming security cooperation with China, Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison expressed "grave worry" across the Pacific on Saturday.
As it diversifies security connections, the Pacific island government announced on Friday that it was boosting ties with China to confront security threats and provide a safe environment for investment.
A possible China-Solomon Islands security treaty has raised concerns among US allies Australia and New Zealand about Chinese influence in a region where they have long wielded authority.
"There is significant anxiety across the Pacific family because we are in daily contact with our Pacific family," Morrison said when asked about the situation by reporters in Sydney.
"Throughout this weekend, I will be in further meetings with leaders; there was a meeting yesterday with our head of mission and Prime Minister (Manasseh) Sogavare," he said.
Sogavare told Canberra on Friday that he appreciated Australia's continued assistance for the Solomon Islands, according to Morrison.
Morrison stated, "We are the Solomon Islands' single largest development partner, daylight second, third, and fourth."
After a draft paper outlining the potential cooperation was leaked this week, Australia expressed alarm about the impact on regional security of military cooperation between China and the Solomon Islands.
A Solomon Islands official told Reuters on Thursday that a security agreement with China covering the military would be handed to the country's cabinet for approval. China has previously struck a policing agreement with the Solomon Islands.
The Solomon Islands, which have a population of around 700,000 people, transferred diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing in 2019, which was a role in last year's disturbances.
The United States announced intentions to construct an embassy in the Solomon Islands last month, laying out a strategy to boost its influence in the South Pacific nation before China becomes "deeply embedded."
The United States had a five-year embassy in the Solomon Islands before closing it in 1993. Since then, Papua New Guinean ambassadors have been accredited to the Solomon Islands, which has a US consular service.
The Solomon Islands Government issued a press release about its new policing deal with China, but it provided little details. The deal was inked in a virtual meeting between China's Wang Xiaohong and Solomon Islands Police Minister Anthony Veke, according to the announcement.