Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has accused Australia of being hypocritical in its opposition to the Pacific country’s recent security pact with China. He argued that Canberra had not consulted with its other partners last year when it unveiled a security deal with the US and Britain, known as AUKUS, which paves the way for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.
“I learned of the AUKUS treaty in the media. One would expect that as a member of the Pacific family, Solomon Islands and members of the Pacific should have been consulted to ensure this AUKUS treaty is transparent,” Sogavare told his country’s parliament on Friday.
He added: “I realize that Australia is a sovereign country, which can enter into any treaty it wants to, transparently or not, which is exactly what they did with AUKUS.”
A tiny archipelago state, the Solomon Islands sit roughly 2,000km (1,242 miles) northeast of Australia.
China and the Solomon Islands signed a security and cooperation treaty late last month. Frank Sade Bilaupaine, an adviser to the islands’ government, said the arrangement had been devised after the recent unrest in his country’s capital Honiara. In November 2021, a mob torched the parliament building and burned down the local Chinatown district.
The treaty had drawn ire in Australia, as well as in the US and New Zealand, all of which regularly trade diplomatic jabs with Beijing.