{"id":72175,"date":"2022-04-26T13:16:11","date_gmt":"2022-04-26T03:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=72175"},"modified":"2022-04-26T13:16:11","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T03:16:11","slug":"blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Blame game over Solomons\u2013China deal must give way to clear-eyed strategy\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

The\u00a0signing of the security pact between China and Solomons Islands\u00a0represents one of the gravest Australian diplomatic and intelligence failures in more than half a decade. This failure didn\u2019t just happen, nor is it the result of a particular leader or party.<\/p>\n

Australians, of course, want to know what happened. Understandably, there will be many commentators and academics who will point the finger of blame now and into the future. However, it\u2019s far more critical that Australia\u2019s next government provide a clear picture of what it will do about this development.<\/p>\n

The origins of this failure can be found in arrogance and hubris that extends across more than 20 years. For two decades, Australia was busy fighting the war on terrorism. That war and global ambitions of being a middle power drew our attention away from the Pacific.<\/p>\n

Various governments over this time assumed that the \u2018Pacific family\u2019 bond was so strong that they could return to the region and start where they left off when and if they needed. They were wrong.<\/p>\n

Personal relationships matter in the Pacific. And we neglected them. Despite the efforts of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Federal Police in Solomon Islands, it was apparent to those in the Pacific that there was little concern from Australia about their future.<\/p>\n

Australians must understand that Solomon Islands is a sovereign state like all of our Pacific neighbours. Australia cannot force its will on the region, nor can it afford financially or ethically to undertake chequebook democracy in the Pacific. If change is to come, then it must be done using statecraft.<\/p>\n

Both major parties need to spend less time finger-pointing on the issue during the election. They need to do more to make a clear statement on what they will do to address this situation if they were to take government.<\/p>\n

The next government will need to take a deep, hard and honest look at the state of our relationships with the Pacific nations. This examination needs to cast aside goodwill statements about the Pacific family. It needs to consider what each Pacific nation thinks of the status of our relationship. In doing so, Australia will need to accept that it has, at times, overstepped the bounds and attempted to exercise paternalistic influence. At the same time, it has failed to meet its obligations as a middle power on issues like climate change.<\/p>\n

The next government will also need to examine our relationship with Solomons Islands. Australia\u2019s 14-year commitment to the Regional Assistance Mission Solomon Islands from 2003 to 2017 left a deep and indelible grassroots connection between the two nations. This relationship cannot be bought and is a strong foundation for new policy measures to bring the two countries together. It\u2019s not too late for Australia and Solomon Islands to work together to prevent this security pact from destabilising the region.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no room for short-term thinking, policy on the run, simplistic announcements or media grabs. Our next government must have a clear strategy that draws upon economic, social and cultural means to exercise smart power in the region. This strategy must focus on the kind of engagement that enlarges multilateralism in the Pacific. Effective Pacific multilateralism will prevent the Chinese Communist Party from making the kinds of bilateral agreements that offer short-term benefits with long-term instability.<\/p>\n

Finally, the potential for China to establish a naval base or facility in Solomon Islands requires new thinking about defence. The 2016 defence white paper is now long in the tooth. Arguably, the 2020 defence update has also been overtaken by events. Neither party seems interested in embarking on another defence white paper or strategic update. Perhaps they\u2019re right, given the speed of change in our strategic environment.<\/p>\n

At the very least, it seems pertinent that the next government undertake a force posture and structure review. This kind of review identifies defence needs in terms of capabilities, readiness, structure and location. There will need to be new thinking about the Australian Defence Force\u2019s strategic strike capabilities, including missiles.<\/p>\n

This review should consider whether Cairns and Townsville have become as strategically important as Darwin. Perhaps these cities will need to become much more than garrison and port cities for the ADF. They could well become forward operating bases for the defence of Australia. If so, the Department of Defence will have to make further infrastructure investments to harden ports and airfields from attack and ensure they are fit for purpose.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0signing of the security pact between China and Solomons Islands\u00a0represents one of the gravest Australian diplomatic and intelligence failures in more than half a decade. This failure didn\u2019t just happen, nor is it the result …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":310,"featured_media":72181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17,294,2015,2160,228],"class_list":["post-72175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australia","tag-diplomacy","tag-domestic-politics","tag-pacific-islands","tag-solomon-islands"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBlame game over Solomons\u2013China deal must give way to clear-eyed strategy\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blame game over Solomons\u2013China deal must give way to clear-eyed strategy\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The\u00a0signing of the security pact between China and Solomons Islands\u00a0represents one of the gravest Australian diplomatic and intelligence failures in more than half a decade. This failure didn\u2019t just happen, nor is it the result ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-26T03:16:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/solomons260422.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"801\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Coyne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Coyne\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/solomons260422.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/solomons260422.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":801},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/\",\"name\":\"Blame game over Solomons\u2013China deal must give way to clear-eyed strategy\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-26T03:16:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-26T03:16:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/a67980596297e3db4ad0b3fde70aa778\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Blame game over Solomons\u2013China deal must give way to clear-eyed strategy\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/a67980596297e3db4ad0b3fde70aa778\",\"name\":\"John Coyne\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e84af569f04d25615d1447d4fe1908a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e84af569f04d25615d1447d4fe1908a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Coyne\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/john-coyne\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Blame game over Solomons\u2013China deal must give way to clear-eyed strategy\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Blame game over Solomons\u2013China deal must give way to clear-eyed strategy\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 | The Strategist","og_description":"The\u00a0signing of the security pact between China and Solomons Islands\u00a0represents one of the gravest Australian diplomatic and intelligence failures in more than half a decade. This failure didn\u2019t just happen, nor is it the result ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2022-04-26T03:16:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":801,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/solomons260422.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"John Coyne","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John Coyne","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/solomons260422.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/solomons260422.jpg","width":1200,"height":801},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/","name":"Blame game over Solomons\u2013China deal must give way to clear-eyed strategy\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2022-04-26T03:16:11+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-26T03:16:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/a67980596297e3db4ad0b3fde70aa778"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/blame-game-over-solomons-china-deal-must-give-way-to-clear-eyed-strategy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Blame game over Solomons\u2013China deal must give way to clear-eyed strategy\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/a67980596297e3db4ad0b3fde70aa778","name":"John Coyne","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e84af569f04d25615d1447d4fe1908a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e84af569f04d25615d1447d4fe1908a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"John Coyne"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/john-coyne\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72175"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/310"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72175"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72183,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72175\/revisions\/72183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}