Solomon Islands slams Australia's 'un-neighbourly' China criticism

Sogavare said while in China he signed nine agreements and memorandums, including a police cooperation plan, which he accused the US and Australia of being “un-neighbourly” for criticising.

The Solomon Islands switched allegiance from the self-ruled island of Taiwan to Beijing in 2019, threatening the close ties with the US that date to World War II.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters she had asked about the plan when she met with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi in Jakarta last week.

Wong said Australia wants more transparency and takes the view that “security is best provided for within the Pacific family”.

At the news conference, Sogavare hit out at Australia and the US about an alleged funding shortage and thanked China for having “stepped up and committed itself to the meet this shortfall”.

“Questioning Solomon Islands-China policy programmes gives a new definition of free and open Indo-Pacific,” he said.

“The narrow, coercive, diplomatic approach of targeting China-Solomon Islands relation is — and I don’t wanna use this word — un-neighbourly, and lacks respect.”

Read Related Also: Greenacre shooting: Two men fighting for life and woman rushed to hospital after they were gunned down in their cars

“This is nothing but interference by foreign states into the internal affairs of Solomon Islands,” Sogavare said.

He said China’s plan to help the police complemented existing Australian and New Zealand police programs in his nation.

“Australia and the United States should not fear China’s police support to Solomon Islands,” Sogavare said.

Home to 700,000 people and lying about 2000 kilometres north-east of Australia, Solomon Islands has been one of China’s biggest successes in a campaign to expand its presence in the South Pacific.

China’s Foreign Ministry earlier said Sogavare’s visit to Beijing would “inject new momentum” into relations and “deepen mutual political trust”.