Solomon Islands: Japan sends envoy as Australia warns of Chinese military base ‘red line’
- Kentaro Uesugi is expected to convey Tokyo’s concern about the islands’ security pact with China, and discuss bilateral and regional issues
- It comes after Australian PM Scott Morrison said on Sunday that a Chinese military base in the Solomon Islands would be a ‘red line’ for his government
Kentaro Uesugi’s three-day trip to Solomon Islands comes on the heels of a visit by a senior US delegation, who warned that Washington would take unspecified action against the South Pacific nation should the security deal with China pose a threat to US or allied interests.
The security pact, which China and the Solomons confirmed last week, has also alarmed neighbouring countries and Western allies, including Japan, that fear a military build-up in the region.
Solomon Islands may lean less on Australia with new pact, but at what cost?
“We believe the deal could affect the security of the entire Asia-Pacific region and we are watching the development with concern,” Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Friday.
Uesugi, during his visit to the Solomon Islands, is expected to convey Japan’s concern about the security pact and discuss bilateral and regional issues.
Japan sees China’s increasingly assertive military activity in the East and South China seas as a threat in some of the world’s busiest sea lanes.
Tokyo is especially concerned about Chinese military and coastguard activity in the East China Sea near the disputed Diaoyu Islands, which Japan controls and calls the Senkakus.
Tokyo has in recent years significantly stepped up security cooperation and expanded joint drills with the United States and other Western partners, including Australia, India, France, Britain and Germany, that share its concerns about China’s growing influence.
The Solomon Islands switched diplomatic ties from Taipei to Beijing in 2019.
Australia tells Solomon Islands it must be ‘really careful’ on China deal
Morrison said Sogavare had assured him personally there would be no military base in the Solomons. “This is a shared concern, not just Australia. This is Australia with regional governments,” he said.
When asked by journalists what he would do in the event of the announcement of a Chinese military base in the Solomons, Morrison did not say.
Australia’s Liberal National coalition is working to contain the political fallout from the announcement in the past week that the Solomon Islands had signed a security agreement with China, the details of which have not been made public. A draft of the agreement leaked in late March would allow Chinese naval vessels a safe harbour just 2,000km (1,200 miles) from Australia’s coastline.
The opposition Labor Party described the pact as the “worst failure of Australian foreign policy in the Pacific since the end of World War II”.
Australia’s PM Morrison accuses China of ‘interfering’ in the Pacific
Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Monday morning, Labor’s shadow defence minister Brendan O’Connor said he would request a briefing from the government on what it would do if the “red line” was crossed by China.
“The fact that we have to turn to using that type of language is too little, too late. We should have been doing more,” he said.
Morrison’s government is currently campaigning for a fourth term in power at a national election due to be held on May 21. Despite Australia’s strong economy and record low unemployment, Morrison’s centre-right government is trailing Labor in opinion polling.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
