Solomon Islands official says China deal crucial for domestic security

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A senior Solomon Islands official has defended his country's freedom to pick its friends, saying that the security arrangement agreed between the Solomon Islands and China was necessary to protect domestic security and aid in the battle against climate change.

Collin Beck, the permanent secretary of foreign affairs and a senior figure in the Solomons government, told The Guardian in his first interview since the deal between China and Solomon Islands was leaked that Australia should question whether it had been "fair" to the Solomon Islands in its intense scrutiny of the deal.

Australia is worried that the pact, whose details have not been made public, could be a step toward a Chinese military presence less than 2,000 km away, which was refuted by China, through its  Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin who said the statements about an alleged desire by China to build a military base on the Solomon Islands under the newly signed security agreement are nothing but disinformation.

The US, UK, and Australia had formed their AUKUS alliance amid China concerns. The alliance was based on enhancing Australia's nuclear capabilities through advanced technology and nuclear submarines in order to increase the alliance's strength in the South Pacific as China grows more influential in its region.

Read more: China begins training Solomon Islands police

Solomon Islands PM Manasseh Sogavare had termed late in March international criticism of the country's security discussions with China "insulting" and those who leaked the draft security deal "lunatics".

Beck stated that the deal was designed to address "domestic security threats," including the increasing population.

“When we look at the security vulnerability of the country, you know, we have youth population, about 18,000 youth looking for jobs every year.”

He stated that China would not put up a permanent military presence assuring the alliance had nothing to do with it.

Beck went on to say that focusing on the security agreement with China rather than the roots of the country's instability was analogous to focusing on which "fire station" the country would turn to for assistance in a disaster rather than the causes of the fire.

“What we should be talking about is actually preventing the fire,” he said. “Security and development are two sides of the same coin. Now we need to address our development agenda … Solomon Islands, first of all, is a small island developing state, its vulnerability to climate change is real.”

The Solomon Islands has lost five islands in recent years due to increasing sea levels. All of the islands were large vegetated reef islands.

“We are basically heading to 2.7 to three degrees [of global heating]. More than three degrees. What does this mean? It basically means the sinking of many of our islands, the impact on the economy, the impact on tourism, the impact on fisheries, etc. So when you look at – even for climate change alone – it needs more partnership, not less partnership.”

He also questioned why other treaties in the region were not being scrutinized.

Listing the Quad grouping between the US, Australia, India, and Japan, and the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance of Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the US, and the UK, he stated that “in international relations, one thing that is really important is equality and fairness. So if it is good for others to do it, to guarantee the national security interest, then if we’re doing the same and we’ve been scrutinized the way we are being scrutinized, we really need to step back and say: are [they] being fair with Solomon Islands in Australia?"

“I just want to say that the security cooperation we have with China also respects Solomon Islands’ nuclear-free Pacific,” he concluded.