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The Latest Breaking News from Honiara

China's influence hard to ignore in Solomon Islands' capital Honiara, as Australia warned it could be 'left behind'

Solomon Islands has been shut off from the world for more than two years. It was thrust into the global spotlight during that time when it signed a security pact with China. Now it has opened up again, what do the people of Solomon Islands think?

ABC News

In the Solomon Islands, Wong takes first tentative steps in repairing a strained relationship

Foreign Minister Penny Wong was no doubt expecting a cooler reception than her three previous visits to the Pacific when she touched down in Honiara last Friday. The Solomon Islands government website had not even listed the Australian minister’s visit – but it did note the first visit of a…

The Conversation

Australian minister visits Solomons to counter China

Australia’s new foreign minister has visited the Solomon Islands to assure the South Pacific island nation it does not need a security pact with China

The Independent UK

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Australia supports Solomons' vaccines push

Australia has announced further health support for the Solomon Islands, as Foreign Minister Penny Wong visits the nation's capital Honiara.

AAP

Solomon Islands seeks to reassure Australia on China security deal, Penny Wong announces 200,000 paediatric vaccines

Solomon Islands' Prime Minister seeks to reassure Australia there will not be a military base in the Pacific island nation, after Foreign Minister Penny Wong touches down in Honiara.

ABC News

Australia's foreign minister in Solomon Islands to discuss security concerns

Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong met with the Solomon Islands leader Manasseh Sogavare on Friday, the first visit to Honiara by the new Australian government amid concern over its Pacific neighbour's security pact with China.

Reuters

New Zealand to boost maritime security with Solomon Islands amid China focus on Pacific

‘Small work plan’ is another signal of intensifying security interests in the region, in the wake of Beijing’s security deal with Honiara

The Guardian - AU

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China-Solomon Islands security deal could lead to a 'difficult' situation for Australian troops in Honiara

Solomon Islands and China signed a wide-ranging security deal in April that opens the way for Beijing to send police and military forces to the Pacific nation, but there are questions over how the agreement will operate.

ABC News

China’s Pacific tour spurs hopes and fears in tiny island nations

Countries such as Vanuatu and Kiribati expected to seek Wang Yi’s support for development and infrastructure.

Al Jazeera

China's grand tour: Opposition mounts to Beijing 'expansionism' in Pacific

New Zealand and Australia have belatedly hit back at the Chinese foreign minister's sudden and rapid blitz of the Pacific.

Newsroom.co.nz

Ambassador champions China's increased security presence in the Pacific

China's foreign minister is visiting the Pacific, seeking a security agreement with 10 island nations. But Ambassador Wang Xiaolong says China will only send forces there if requested

Newsroom.co.nz

High-profile Chinese visit steps up battle for the hearts and debts of the Pacific

A draft security pact leaks as the Chinese foreign minister arrives in the Pacific to sign deals with the leaders of 11 island states, including NZ realm nations Niue and Cook Islands.

Newsroom.co.nz

Solomon Islands Opposition Leader accuses AFP of renting property from government MP for inflated price

Solomon Islands Opposition Leader Matthew Wale is accusing the Australian Federal Police of renting a property from a key government MP and powerbroker for a hugely inflated price.

ABC News

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit Solomon Islands, wider Pacific visit likely

Wang Yi will visit Honiara, possibly before Australia's federal election, to cement security and commercial ties with the Pacific island nation, with visits to other nations in the region likely.

ABC News

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The Independent UK

Australian, Solomon Islands ministers discuss China pact

Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne has met her Solomon Islands counterpart Jeremiah Manele for the first time since the South Pacific island nation signed a security pact with China

ABC News

Why Solomon Islands' deal with Beijing is different to past agreements with Pacific nations

Experts say a new security agreement signed by Beijing and Honiara is "qualitatively different' to Beijing's past agreements with Pacific nations and the geopolitical context has changed.

ABC News

Solomon Islands security pact with China all part of PM Manasseh Sogavare's plan as 'unpredictable' but 'deft political operator'

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Mannaseh Sogavare is a political journeyman with a plan — a plan to hold on to power at all costs, pit regional players against each other and create a wedge to get more for his country.

ABC News

Solomon Islands PM Manasseh Sogavare blasts Australia over criticism of China security deal

The Solomon Islands Prime Minister delivers a withering verbal assault on Australia, mocking the federal government's complaints about the secrecy surrounding the Pacific Island country's security pact with China.

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ABC News

Top Australian diplomat Lachlan Strahan absent for five months ahead of Chinese security deal. He was stuck in Canberra with a broken back

Beijing signing a security pact with the Solomon Islands appears to have caught Australia off guard. Now a contributing factor to the diplomatic blindsiding has been revealed — and it's more mundane than you would think.

Tribune News Service

Chinese naval base in Solomons a ‘red line,’ Australian PM says

Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison said a Chinese military base in the Solomon Islands would be a “red line” for his government, as he attempts to deflect criticism he did not move quickly enough to avoid a security agreement between Honiara and Beijing.

The Guardian - AU

Australia rejects claim its security forces in Solomon Islands were told not to protect Chinese-built buildings

Former PM alleged Australian personnel twice failed to prevent the burning of Honiara’s Chinatown

The Guardian - AU

Scott Morrison fends off claim Solomon Islands-China pact is worst foreign policy failure since 1945

Prime minister defends Canberra’s ‘calibrated’ approach to Honiara and tries to turn criticism back on Labor

The Guardian - AU

The deal that shocked the world: inside the China-Solomons security pact

A secret agreement that expands Chinese influence over Solomon Islands has now been signed. How did it come about, and what does it mean for the region?

Al Jazeera

Why is the Solomon Islands-China security pact causing alarm?

The Solomon Islands prime minister has been defending the just-signed pact amid concern from Canberra to Washington.

Reuters

U.S. concerned after China says it signs security pact with Solomon Islands

China said on Tuesday it had signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands, a move set to heighten concerns of the United States and allies Australia and New Zealand about growing Chinese influence in a region traditionally under their sway.

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