News Snapshot:
Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare has dismissed foreign criticism of the country’s security negotiations with China as “insulting” and called those who leaked the draft agreement “lunatics”, in his first comments to parliament on the proposed treaty. “We find it very insulting, Mr Speaker, to be branded as unfit to manage our sovereign affairs,” Sogavare said on Tuesday. A leaked draft security agreement being negotiated between China and Solomon Islands has triggered alarm in the Pacific, including in Australia and New Zealand. The two neighbours are worried it could jeopardise regional stability, with China having the opportunity to base...
