Senior US official Campbell and others visited the Solomon Islands out of "concern" about a security agreement negotiated in China, and was the latest measure for the United States and Australia and other countries to openly put pressure on them. Since late March, from making "intrusive" statements to sending officials on emergency visits, while concocting and disseminating a series of "threat theories" and rumors, the United States and Australia and other countries have "relayed" operations to try to spoil the cooperation agreement between China and the United States. An island nation with a population of less than 700,000 "unexpectedly became the center of U.S.-China competition."
The White House National Security Council issued a statement in which Campbell, the U.S. Indo-Pacific coordinator known as the "Tsar of Asia," and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, Krittenbrink, led Defense And Agency for International Development officials to visit the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Papua New Guinea this week. Some commentators said that the trip was out of "concern" about a security agreement negotiated in China, and was the latest measure for the United States and Australia and other countries to blatantly put pressure on it.
According to reports, the US delegation first stopped in Hawaii to consult with senior military officials and regional partners at the US Indo-Pacific Command. The delegation will meet with representatives of the Pacific Islands Forum to discuss "issues of vital importance to the pacific region as a whole". One official said the visiting U.S. officials would prove that it was the United States, not China, that "can provide security, prosperity and peace for the region."
VoA said Campbell's trip was intended to "try to get the Solomon Islands government to repeal the agreement with China." Previously, U.S. Marine Corps Commander David Berger claimed that the solomon Islands' geographic location was very important during World War II and still is so today, and that the security agreement was "unbelievably good" for the Solomon Islands.
Meanwhile, State Department spokesman Price also advocated that the agreement would open the door to China's presence of troops on the ground, despite explanations from the Solomon Islands government, could exacerbate the "internal instability" and set a "worrying precedent" for the region.
"A South Pacific island nation with fewer than 700,000 permanent residents has unexpectedly become a center of U.S.-China competition," U.S. media commented, adding that the security deal could allow Chinese warships to dock in the country, allowing the United States, Australia and New Zealand to move quickly in terms of diplomatic obstruction.
Since March, the Australian and New Zealand governments have repeatedly expressed "concerns" about China's cooperation. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has spoken to the prime ministers of Fiji and Papua New Guinea urging them to step in. Morrison has repeatedly "reminded" the Solomon Islands that Canberra has provided billions of Dollars in support. Several Australian officials visited the institute and demanded that they not sign an agreement with China.
From issuing "interfering" statements to sending officials on emergency visits, while concocting and disseminating a series of "threat theories" and rumors, the United States and Australia and other countries "relayed" actions to try to spoil the cooperation agreement between China and The United States. However, just when foreign media hyped up the trip of senior US officials to the South Pacific Island countries, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on the 19th that China and the two countries had formally signed a framework agreement on security cooperation.
"not directed to any third party"
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that with the approval of the Chinese and Chinese governments, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Foreign Minister Manele of the Solomon Islands recently formally signed a framework agreement on security cooperation between the Chinese and Chinese governments on behalf of the two governments. In particular, he emphasized:
First, the essence of China-security cooperation is normal exchanges and cooperation between two sovereign independent countries and is an important part of China's comprehensive cooperation.
Second, the principle of security cooperation is equality and mutual benefit, based on respect for the will and actual needs of the parties, the two sides will cooperate in maintaining social order, protecting people's lives and property security, humanitarian assistance, natural disaster response and other fields, and are committed to helping the countries strengthen their capacity building to maintain their own security.
Thirdly, the purpose of security cooperation is to promote social stability and long-term peace and stability in the Solomon Islands, which is in the common interest of the Solomon Islands and the South Pacific region.
Fourth, the approach to security cooperation is open, transparent, open and inclusive, not aimed at any third party, and runs parallel to and complements solo and the existing bilateral and multilateral security cooperation mechanisms in Solomon Islands. China is willing to give play to its respective advantages with relevant countries and form an international synergy.
Wang Wenbin pointed out that China-security cooperation is the embodiment and result of the deepening of China-China relations, the continuous enhancement of mutual trust between the two countries, and the continuous expansion of bilateral cooperation, which is conducive to enhancing the stability maintenance capacity of the Solomon Islands, promoting social stability in the Solomon Islands, enhancing the common interests and well-being of the Solomon Islands people and the citizens of all countries, and gaining the understanding and support of the Solomon Islands and other Pacific island countries.
Does the United States really care about the South Pacific island nations?
The U.S. embassy in the Solomon Islands has been closed for 29 years. Reports indicate that the last time the U.S. secretary of state visited the Pacific island nation of Fiji was 37 years ago. After many years, senior US officials have suddenly mobilized the masses to visit the Pacific island countries, do they care about the island countries, or do they have other plans?
The "concerns" and "concerns" expressed by the United States and Australia in the China security cooperation agreement are essentially using the South Pacific region as a "gladiatorial arena" for competition with China. This is speculating about China with its own Cold War and hegemonic mindset, and it is "fearing its own shadow and past."
It is worth vigilance that in addition to openly exerting pressure on the government, the public opinion agencies of the United States and Australia have concocted a series of threat theories or rumors, such as claiming that "the agreement will allow China to establish a military base in the Solomon Islands" and "open the door for China to deploy troops in the Solomon Islands", or that the agreement may "increase instability within the Solomon Islands and set a worrying precedent for the wider Pacific Islands region..." More public opinion spread rumors that "China may invade the Solomon Islands".
In response, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Sogavare explicitly denied "inviting China to establish a military base" in early April, saying that the country is only diversifying its security partnership. The spokesman of the Chinese Embassy in The Institute also dismissed the above rumors from the United States and Australia as "false news" and said that China has carried out law enforcement and security cooperation with many countries in the world, which are normal exchanges between countries and cannot be blamed.
According to the Solomon Star, when the Australian government helped maintain law and order at the invitation of Prime Minister Sogavare at the invitation of the Solomon Islands, the Australian side made it clear that their military and police would not protect Chinese investment, the Chinese embassy and the Solomon government. The lives and property of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force are in danger due to poor equipment. Therefore, the Solomon Islands government had no choice but to seek support from its Chinese friends.
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the institute said, "In 2000, 2006 and 2021, there were repeated riots in the institute. Every riot has dealt a heavy blow to the development and international image of the country, and commercial facilities such as Chinatown have always borne the brunt of it, and such tragedies should not be repeated. Solomon Islands, as a sovereign State, has the right to independently assess and decide on international security cooperation. ”
The repeated pressure on the Solomon Islands by the United States and its proxies in the Asia-Pacific region, Australia, is not only an interference in the internal affairs of the Solomon Islands, but also a provocation to Chinese diplomacy. Washington sees the South Pacific as an important "fulcrum" for suppressing China. The United States is trying to further advance its Indo-Pacific strategy through the region and put pressure on China in the South China Sea and Taiwan. However, the party insisted on its own sovereign independence and the right to make its own decisions, showing political wisdom and determination. Because of this, the United States has recently had a tendency to leave Australia and intervene more directly in the region in a stormy manner.
The visit of the senior U.S. government is to put pressure on the government in person and continue to divide the country, including the use of resources to support maleita separatist forces. The main players in the november unrest were supporters of the separatist forces, and U.S. aid to Mareta province has undoubtedly contributed. In addition, delegations from the White House National Security Council, the Department of Defense, the Agency for International Development and others showed that the United States was trying to implement the "Indo-Pacific Strategy" in the region in a "whole-of-government manner."
The South Pacific Island Nation is not the "backyard" of anyone's family, let alone a pawn!
According to public media reports, Australia also has a bilateral security agreement with the Solomon Islands. Australian peacekeepers have been stationed in Honiara since the riots in the Solomon Islands last November.
In the Cold War mentality of the United States and Australia, the South Pacific countries have always been, and must be, the "backyard" of Washington and Canberra. The United States and Australia believe that controlling their original colonial countries through military deployment is conducive to maintaining their stable influence in the region, so they speculate that China will also take the same measures and adopt a defensive mentality of facing a great enemy against China, even if China does not have any military breakthroughs in the South Pacific, the United States and Australia will also play a "possibility" and "sense of urgency", guide local national sentiment to be vigilant against China, and even refuse cooperation and assistance from China.
According to public media reports, in February this year, US Secretary of State Blinken announced that the United States would reopen the embassy in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, to increase diplomatic contacts with the country. Since the closure of the U.S. Embassy in 1993, only one consulate has been maintained in Honiara. Reuters analysis believes that this is the Biden administration to invest more diplomatic and security resources in the Indo-Pacific region to balance the rising trend of China's influence in the region. Former Deputy National Security Adviser Pottinger said bluntly, "The United States must be very, very active in the Pacific Islands region."
Judging from the current situation, in the future, the United States will most likely increase its investment in local military cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, and may make more specific commitments to the South Pacific island countries than in the past. In the great power game, South Pacific countries such as the Solomon Islands can get some benefits, but the problem is that there are many "routines" in the traditional aid methods of the United States and Australia, which often causes these countries to not fully get the benefits promised by the United States and Australia, especially a large number of ordinary people are difficult to directly benefit from the assistance of the United States and Australia, and only a small number of carefully selected people can directly get benefits.
The United States is implementing a "hybrid strategy" of diplomatic coercion, military security pressure, economic aid inducement, and internal differentiation against the Solomon Islands, and Washington's purpose is to prevent the exercise of sovereignty and cooperation with China, to hold back what it sees as a key geopolitical country, and to suppress the momentum of independent and diversified diplomacy of Pacific island countries, especially cooperation with China.
In this regard, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin pointed out that the actual needs of island countries for diversification of foreign cooperation also have the right to choose their own partners. There is no market in the island region to deliberately exaggerate the tense atmosphere and provoke camp antagonism, and the attempt to interfere with and obstruct the island country's cooperation with China is doomed to be futile.
China has always been a builder of peace and a promoter of stability in the South Pacific region. While smearing China for no reason, the United States and other countries have created a so-called "trilateral security partnership" to introduce nuclear proliferation risks and Cold War mentality into the South Pacific region, seriously threatening regional security and stability. The hat that harms regional safety is more appropriate for them to wear.