The Solomon Islands’ newly appointed Prime Minister Matthew Wale announced Wednesday that his government will examine the controversial security agreement his country signed with China.
The agreement, finalized in 2022 during former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s administration, has sparked concern among U.S. officials and allies like Australia over the possibility of Chinese naval forces establishing a military installation in the South Pacific region.
Prior to his parliamentary election victory on May 15, Wale had advocated for making the agreement’s terms publicly available.
Speaking Wednesday, Wale revealed he had only recently received a copy of the document after he had “removed certain people from key positions.” He declined to name the individuals involved.
“I haven’t had a good look at it. I’ve had a look at it,” Wale told journalists in Australia’s capital city Canberra.
“I’ve been praying and fasting about it. … There is a nondisclosure clause in it, so I couldn’t show it to you right away. But we are going to be reviewing (the treaty), as we are reviewing other security agreements that we have with many other countries,” he continued.
Wale made these comments during his inaugural international visit since assuming leadership of the 700,000-person nation located 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Australia.
During the visit, Wale and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed plans for their nations to develop a comprehensive strategic agreement that would strengthen bilateral relations across security and economic matters.
Unlike his predecessor Jeremiah Manele, who had opposed Australia’s attempts to strengthen ties, Wale indicated both governments had agreed to “reset” their relationship.
“We acknowledge that there’s been some problems in the past few years,” Wale stated.
Albanese expressed his view that Australia, not China, should serve as the Solomon Islands’ main security ally.
“We have said very clearly we want Australia to be the security partner of choice in our region and we want the Pacific family to look after our security in this region,” Albanese declared.
Wale agreed that regional self-reliance for security was “the direction we want to take.”
Under the bilateral arrangement, China has supplied police training personnel to the Solomon Islands. Since the nation lacks military forces, its police force handles expanded security responsibilities typically managed by defense organizations in other countries.
The Solomon Islands delivered a significant diplomatic victory to China in 2019 when Sogavare’s administration shifted official diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing, acknowledging the self-governing island that China considers part of its territory.
