GEOPOLITICS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC

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Context: The US Defence Department expressed concern over a possible security pact between China and the Solomon Islands, saying it leaves the door open for deployment of Chinese military forces to the Pacific nation.

• The deal was likely China’s response to AUKUS.
• It created alarm among traditional regional Pacific powers Australia and New Zealand.

Beijing’s Pacific policies

• Beijing’s Pacific policies had been predominantly marked by economic engagement, including via the Belt and Road Initiative, rather than overt strategic considerations.
• Chinese government succeeded in convincing two Pacific Island states, Kiribati and Solomon Islands, to switch recognition from Taipei to Beijing.
• China’s political designs in the Pacific were revealed by a draft security agreement between China and the Solomon’s that includes provisions for stationing Chinese military and police personnel in the island state and allowing Chinese vessels to replenish supplies there.
• Beijing has already militarised outposts in disputed areas of the South China Sea – parts of which are also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam – and has carried out repeated incursions into waters around the disputed islands known in Japan as the Senkakus but in China as the Diaoyus.

U.S. response:

• Washington is developing its “pivot” or “rebalance” policies in the Asia-Pacific out of concerns about China’s potential to create a sphere of influence in the region.
• It expressed worries that this agreement can formalized Chinese military presence in the southern Pacific.
• It raised concerns about China’s expansionist policy as it hinders Australia’s or the United States’ vision of a “free and open Indo-Pacific”
• It accuses China of undermining the Pacific nation’s integrity and only acting in their national interest.

Australia Response:

• It has been stepping up efforts to prevent the Solomon Islands from officially signing the agreement.
• In light of the China-Solomon Islands security pact, Australia has to build its regional soft power and diversify links with Pacific nations. Australia is not solely basing its Pacific engagement policies on marginalizing China.

Wider geopolitical perspective

• The security deal appears to be a direct response to the establishment or revival of larger Indo-Pacific security groupings. In particular, the AUKUS pact.
• Signing such an agreement could actually increase destabilization within the Solomon Islands and could set a concerning precedent for the wider Pacific Island region.
• The security deal has impacted the already fragile state of Pacific multilateralism, in light of the possible fracturing of the Pacific Islands Forum with the departure of its Micronesian members.
• Hard power focus will undermine other concerns among the Pacific Islands that includes issue of climate change and sea-level rise.

https://thediplomat.com/2022/04/the-geopolitical-aftershocks-of-the-china-solomon-islands-security-agreement/