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Solomon Islands would not ‘choose sides’, agrees to US, Pacific Islands accord after China references removed
- Remarks represented the first time Solomons publicly acknowledged it had initial concerns about agreement and expressed why it had a change of heart
- Solomons said a security agreement with China was part of a national security strategy and there was no provision for Beijing to build a military base
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The Solomon Islands agreed to sign an accord between the United States and more than a dozen Pacific nations only after indirect references to China were removed, the Solomon Islands foreign minister said on Tuesday.
“There were some references that put us in a position where we’ll have to choose sides, and we did not want to be placed in a position where we have to choose sides,” Jeremiah Manele told reporters in New Zealand.
Asked if those references were to China, he replied: “Indirectly.”
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His remarks represented the first time Solomon Islands has publicly acknowledged it had initial concerns about the agreement and expressed why it had a change of heart.
The accord was signed in Washington last week, with President Joe Biden telling visiting Pacific leaders that the US was committed to bolstering its presence in the region and becoming a more collaborative partner.
The administration pledged the US would add US$810 million in new aid for Pacific Island nations over the next decade. The summit came amid growing US concern about China’s military and economic influence in the Pacific.
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