SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia wanted to deepen ties with Pacific neighbour Solomon Islands and ensure decisions were made “without fear” for the region. China also sent an envoy to Honiara to meet new Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele.
Australia is the Solomon Islands’ largest development partner and has sent its second and third most senior government ministers to meet with President Manele since his election last month to strengthen ties, Wong said in Honiara on Thursday.
“We want a Pacific islands region where we can all make our own decisions, exercise our sovereignty without fear, where we can all grow and live together in peace,” she told reporters during her two-day visit, during which she pledged to donate $3.4 million to improve infrastructure for 40 schools.
During a visit last month, Manele told Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles that his government was conducting a security review to determine the future of police cooperation.
Australia provided police support for April’s general election, and China has also sent police forces to the strategic archipelago, 1,600 kilometers (990 miles) northeast of Australia.
A security pact signed with China in 2022 by former pro-Beijing leader Manasseh Sogavare has alarmed the Australian and US governments amid concerns about China’s naval ambitions in the region.
China’s special envoy to the Pacific island, Qian Bo, also met with Manele on Wednesday and reaffirmed the “special relationship between the two countries,” the Solomon Islands government said in a statement.
China has provided infrastructure, policing, health care, education, energy and agriculture assistance to the Solomon Islands since it switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to Beijing in 2019, and the Solomon Islands said it would “continue to strengthen ties.”
Since May, two large delegations of Solomon Islands government officials have visited China for training programs, according to a statement on the Chinese embassy’s website.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
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