Escalating tensions over Solomon Islands security pact with China

Escalating tensions over Solomon Islands security pact with China In a defiant speech to the Solomon Islands parliament yesterday, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare denounced as "very insulting" the backlash from Australia and New Zealand to his government's negotiations with China. A draft "security cooperation" agreement between the Solomons and China would allow Beijing to send military forces and ships to the small Pacific Island state. The online [leaking](/en/articles/2022/03/26/zlgk-m26.html) of the draft agreement last week met with immediate uproar in Canberra, Wellington, and Washington. Sogavare declared that the regional imperialist powers viewed the Solomons as their "backyard" and pointed to "discussions…