BEIJING, 10 Jul: Leaders of the Solomon Islands and China promised Monday to expand relations that have fueled unease in Washington and Australia about Beijing\u2019s influence in the South Pacific.
\nPrime Minister Manasseh Sogavare met Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the country\u2019s No. 2 leader, Premier Li Qiang. Sogavare and Li presided over the signing of agreements on police, economic and technical cooperation.
\n\u201cWe are here to further boost relations,\u201d Sogavare told Li following a ceremony at which a Chinese military band played the Solomon Islands national anthem.
\nThe Solomon Islands, 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Australia, has been China\u2019s biggest success in a campaign to expand its presence in the South Pacific. Sogavare\u2019s govern-ment switched official recognition in 2019 to Beijing from Taiwan, the self-governed island demo-cracy claimed by the main-land\u2019s ruling Communist Party as part of its territory.
\n\u201cSolomon Islands, sir, has a lot to learn from Chi-na\u2019s development experie-nce,\u201d Sogavare told Li. He welcomed an opportunity for dialogue to enhance \u201cbilateral interaction and cooperation.\u201d
\nThe two governments \u201chave decided to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership of mutual respect and common development,\u201d Li said. \u201cThe relationship between China and the Solomon Islands has developed rapidly, and we can now say that it is very fruitful.\u201d
\nThe Solomon Islands signed a secretive security agreement with Beijing that might have allowed Chinese military forces in the South Pacific. However, Sogavare rejected suggestions his government might give Beijing a military foothold in the region.
\nThe nearby island nation of Kiribati also switched official relations to Beijing in 2019.
\nMeeting later with Sogavare, Xi said Beijing wants to expand relations and trade through its Belt and Road Initiative to build ports and other infrastruc-ture from the Pacific across Asia and Africa.
\n\u201cChina supports more Chinese enterprises to invest and start businesses in the region,\u201d Xi said, according to state TV. \u201cChina understands that Pacific Island countries are facing severe challenges from climate change and is willing to strengthen exch-anges and cooperation.\u201d
\nChina\u2019s Foreign Ministry said last week that Sogavare\u2019s visit would \u201cinject new momentum\u201d into relations and \u201cdeepen mutual political trust.\u201d
\nChina\u2019s efforts to develop closer relations with other Pacific govern-ments have largely failed.
\nThe Biden administr-ation has responded by announcing plans to reopen an American Embassy in the Solomon Islands.
\nBiden convened a summit of Pacific Island leaders in September to unveil a strategy that included cooperation in climate change, maritime security and preventing overfishing.
\nBiden promised $810 million in new aid for Pacific Island nations over the next decade, including $130 million to address the effects of climate change.
\nAgreements signed Monday by Solomon Islands and Chinese officials included an implementation plan for police cooperation through 2025. (AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING, 10 Jul: Leaders of the Solomon Islands and China promised Monday to expand relations that have fueled unease in Washington and Australia about Beijing\u2019s influence in the South Pacific. Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare met Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the country\u2019s No. 2 leader, Premier Li Qiang. Sogavare and Li presided over the signing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-220098","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220098\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}