Australia would respond calmly to the Solomon Islands after it signed a security pact with China, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said yesterday, dismissing a response by the leader of the Pacific nation to Western criticism of the deal.
In a speech to parliament on Tuesday, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said “we are threatened with invasion,” but he did not name any countries or give evidence for his claim.
“None of that is true,” Morrison said, responding to questions from reporters.
Australian Minister for Defence Peter Dutton said he did not believe the comments were directed at Australia, which had defense forces and police personnel in the Solomon Islands at Sogavare’s request.
“I can understand the pressure that Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare is under at the moment, but in Australia, as he said, he finds a good friend,” Dutton said. “We haven’t been asked to withdraw.”
The opposition Labor Party said that the relationship with the Solomon Islands had deteriorated and that Australia needed to invest more in Pacific diplomacy, not just build its defense spending.
“They have failed the art of statecraft,” Labor defense spokesman Brendan O’Connor said.
Although details of the pact have not been disclosed, Sogavare has ruled out a military base and said the deal covers policing to protect Chinese projects because an agreement with traditional partner Australia was “inadequate.”
Sogavare criticized Australia for referring to the Pacific as its “backyard,” saying this was an insulting term in local culture, where backyards are used to keep chickens, pigs and rubbish.
“We’ll work constructively and patiently, and we’ll work in a professional way and a calm way,” Morrison told Nine Network’s Today show.
Asked why he had not spoken to Sogavare directly since the pact was signed, he told reporters: “I am following very carefully the advice we get from our security intelligence agencies.”
Sogavare made the invasion comment during a parliamentary debate and in response to criticism of the security pact from his country’s opposition parties, provincial leaders and local media.
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