Australia and its Pacific neighbours are calling for more transparency from the political leadership of the Solomon Islands regarding its security deal with China.
“[There’s] a concern that there has been a lack of transparency in relation to this agreement and that it is something that should be discussed in a broader Pacific Island Forum context itself,” Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne told ABC’s Insiders program on April 16.
“I think they are very important assurances,” she said, noting that security cooperation would continue despite Sogavare’s agreement with China.
Neighbouring countries in the Pacific have called for more discussions on the details of the security deal with China.
“Australia would support that discussion. Other countries have called for it as well,” Payne said of the potential talks.
She said that the assurances to Australia from Sogavare had been the result of her, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and Pacific Minister Zed Seselja’s discussions with its Pacific neighbour.
“We have been engaged in bilateral security work with the Solomon Islands work for a long time,” she said.
Payne said this came under the bilateral security treaty between the Solomon Islands and Australia and backed New Zealand, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea, which went to the country at the end of last year to support it in dealing with the unrest that occurred at that time.
