Solomons Leader: No Chinese Military Base In Our Country

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare stated on Thursday, July 14, 2022, that his country's new security treaty with Beijing would prevent China from constructing a military base on the South Pacific nation and making his countrymen “targets for potential military strikes.”

Photo Insert: Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen

In April, Sogavare reached an agreement with Beijing to offer security support. The Associated Press (AP) stated that the agreement has sparked fears of a permanent Chinese military installation within 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) of the northeast Australian coastline.

At a gathering of Pacific island nation leaders in Fiji on Thursday, he denied categorically that his country will become a Chinese military outpost in the South Pacific.

“The moment we establish a foreign military base, we immediately become an enemy. And we also put our country and our people as targets for potential military strikes,” Sogavare told reporters in Suva, the capital.

“There is no military base, nor any other military facility or institutions, in the agreement. And that’s a very important point that we continue to reiterate to the family in the region,” he continued.

Without identifying the United States or the Solomon Islands' most important security ally, Australia, Sogavare told his parliament in May that opponents of the Chinese accord had insulted and endangered his nation.

Both the United States and Australia have informed the Solomon Islands that hosting a Chinese military post is unacceptable. Since its election, the administration of new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pledged to increase aid and engagement with the nation's island neighbors.

At their first face-to-face meeting, which took place on Wednesday in Suva during a Pacific Islands Forum leaders' summit, Sogavare embraced Albanese. The forum consisted of 18 island states until Kiribati's withdrawal this week.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic