{"id":72654,"date":"2022-05-18T06:00:27","date_gmt":"2022-05-17T20:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=72654"},"modified":"2022-05-17T14:39:52","modified_gmt":"2022-05-17T04:39:52","slug":"chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s maritime deal with Solomon Islands hints at dual-use facilities"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

A reading of some of the headlines on China\u2019s new security deal with Solomon Islands might give the impression that a Chinese naval base with assets pointed straight at Australia is a fait accompli and that other Pacific dominos are just waiting to fall. Public anxiety on the issue has risen sharply\u2014unsurprising given that the deal has been caught up in the dynamics of the federal election campaign\u2014with a recent Sydney Morning Herald <\/em>survey finding that<\/a> 70% of voters are concerned about it.<\/p>\n

The exact terms of the final, signed security agreement haven\u2019t been made public. And Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has assured regional nations including Australia and the US that there will be no Chinese military base in the Solomons and that Australia remains his country\u2019s security partner of choice.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the strong US and Australian reactions to the deal, as well as the experience of being visited by US National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell, prompted an incensed Sogavare to declare in the Solomon Islands parliament that Australia\u2019s concerns were \u2018hysterical\u2019.<\/p>\n

He went on to describe Campbell\u2019s statement<\/a> that the US would \u2018respond accordingly<\/a>\u2019 if \u2018steps are taken to establish a de facto permanent military presence, power-projection capabilities, or a military installation\u2019 as a \u2018tacit warning of military intervention\u2019 and said that his country had been \u2018threatened with invasion\u2019.<\/p>\n

But what we do know is that the open-ended nature of the leaked draft agreement allows for a Chinese military presence in Solomon Islands, which is a first for the South Pacific. Beijing has security agreements with<\/a> Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea, but thus far they have been confined to training and equipment provision.<\/p>\n

The region will now be watching closely to see if and how militarisation proceeds, and there\u2019s a spectrum of possibilities here.<\/p>\n

So far China has provided riot-control training to Solomon Islands police. But the language in the security agreement could allow for a more permanent military or paramilitary presence to safeguard Chinese investment projects, or dual-use ports and airfields that could be used for People\u2019s Liberation Army logistics and replenishment.<\/p>\n

A draft maritime cooperation agreement<\/a> that was leaked on 8 May may give a much clearer picture of China\u2019s intentions. On the face of it, the agreement is dazzling in economic terms, promising deep-sea fishing bases, oil and gas development and undersea mining ventures, wharves, submarine optical cables, shipbuilding and repair, as well as solar, wind and tidal clean-energy projects.<\/p>\n

If realised, this would massively expand China\u2019s investment in the Solomons, likely making Beijing its biggest economic partner. China is already Solomon Islands\u2019 biggest trading partner but has been largely absen<\/a>t in terms of overseas development aid, two-thirds of which is provided by Australia at roughly $250 million per year.<\/p>\n

But can Sogavare balance the complexities of having mutually antagonistic economic and security partners?<\/p>\n

As analysts have pointed out, much of this proposed infrastructure would be dual use. Combined with China\u2019s promised airfield upgrade<\/a> and the security agreement, these facilities could potentially allow for the kind of PLA power projection that Washington and Canberra have deemed unacceptable, without reaching the level of a standard naval base. Both countries will find it difficult to object to wharves and roads, and to identify the point at which an \u2018appropriate\u2019 response might be triggered.<\/p>\n

Honiara is certainly betting that Canberra won\u2019t baulk at continuing to provide the capacity-building development aid that will help the Solomon Islands government facilitate this economic package. But given that national budget documents from 2019 onwards<\/a> also include mentions of China contributing to donor-funded budget lines, there seems to be some hedging here too.<\/p>\n

Other Pacific island countries have expressed uneasiness about the potential<\/a> for this deal to exacerbate great-power political competition in the region. How would Sogavare manage an Australian and Chinese security presence operating in close proximity, in a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief scenario, for example, or if Australia was again asked to come in to help manage rioting that targeted a Chinese economic project with some kind of Chinese security presence in situ?<\/p>\n

The region might also have concerns about the highly extractive nature of the proposed projects\u2014with the exception of the energy package\u2014which raises questions about sustainability. A big, permanent Chinese deep-sea fishing fleet based in the Solomons might worry other Pacific island nations with fisheries zones that are hard to police.<\/p>\n

And in a region where climate security is existential, the development of the oil and gas deposits<\/a> that Solomon Islands believes exist in the Shortland Basin, in Guadalcanal\u2019s Iron Bottom Sound and between Isabel and Western provinces is likely to draw fire\u2014particularly since Sogavare has reportedly cited climate change<\/a> as a motivation for his security deal with China.<\/p>\n

For China, dual-use facilities would probably make much more sense than a traditional naval base, which would be a more expensive and overtly aggressive move. In an era of submarine and over-the-horizon missile warfare, a base would need multi-layered air defence for survivability in a conflict. It would also require large numbers of PLA troops to be stationed there, announcing Beijing\u2019s military ambitions in the region in no uncertain terms, which could push neighbouring countries into closer security relationships with China\u2019s strategic rivals.<\/p>\n

The dual-use option would combine flexibility and deniability and be useful in keeping the US and Australia guessing about China\u2019s intentions, while also raising the spectre of a military reach towards Australia. All this forces Australia and the US to spend their bandwidth and resources on trying to limit further political and economic influence-building by China in the Solomons and elsewhere in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A reading of some of the headlines on China\u2019s new security deal with Solomon Islands might give the impression that a Chinese naval base with assets pointed straight at Australia is a fait accompli and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1182,"featured_media":72657,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[52,2160,228,99],"class_list":["post-72654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-china","tag-pacific-islands","tag-solomon-islands","tag-south-pacific"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChina\u2019s maritime deal with Solomon Islands hints at dual-use facilities | 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\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"China\u2019s maritime deal with Solomon Islands hints at dual-use facilities | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A reading of some of the headlines on China\u2019s new security deal with Solomon Islands might give the impression that a Chinese naval base with assets pointed straight at Australia is a fait accompli and ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/\" \/>\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=\"2022-05-17T20:00:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-17T04:39:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1180673130.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anastasia Kapetas\" \/>\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=\"Anastasia Kapetas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 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\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1180673130.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1180673130.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"caption\":\"SOLOMON ISLANDS - OCTOBER 12: A man arrives at the Honiara Central Markets by boat as performers from the 'Solomon Islands Cultural Group' prepare to leave the island nation to attend the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo on October 12, 2019 in Honiara, Solomon Islands. The Australian Defence Force is picking up performers from the Pacific Islands to travel to Sydney to participate in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. The Sydney production will be the largest Tattoo in its 69-year history with 1521 pipers, drummers, dancers, military musicians and performers taking part. The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo runs from 17-19 October in Sydney. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams\/Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/\",\"name\":\"China\u2019s maritime deal with Solomon Islands hints at dual-use facilities | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-17T20:00:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-17T04:39:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/adff203ce018c24f1cf0f9aa42effc20\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"China\u2019s maritime deal with Solomon Islands hints at dual-use facilities\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/adff203ce018c24f1cf0f9aa42effc20\",\"name\":\"Anastasia Kapetas\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c87f16bf7229713b8822cceea19a57ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c87f16bf7229713b8822cceea19a57ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Anastasia Kapetas\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/anastasia-kapetas\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"China\u2019s maritime deal with Solomon Islands hints at dual-use facilities | 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\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"China\u2019s maritime deal with Solomon Islands hints at dual-use facilities | The Strategist","og_description":"A reading of some of the headlines on China\u2019s new security deal with Solomon Islands might give the impression that a Chinese naval base with assets pointed straight at Australia is a fait accompli and ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2022-05-17T20:00:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-05-17T04:39:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1180673130.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Anastasia Kapetas","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anastasia Kapetas","Est. reading time":"5 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\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1180673130.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/GettyImages-1180673130.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"caption":"SOLOMON ISLANDS - OCTOBER 12: A man arrives at the Honiara Central Markets by boat as performers from the 'Solomon Islands Cultural Group' prepare to leave the island nation to attend the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo on October 12, 2019 in Honiara, Solomon Islands. The Australian Defence Force is picking up performers from the Pacific Islands to travel to Sydney to participate in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. The Sydney production will be the largest Tattoo in its 69-year history with 1521 pipers, drummers, dancers, military musicians and performers taking part. The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo runs from 17-19 October in Sydney. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams\/Getty Images)"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/","name":"China\u2019s maritime deal with Solomon Islands hints at dual-use facilities | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2022-05-17T20:00:27+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-17T04:39:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/adff203ce018c24f1cf0f9aa42effc20"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"China\u2019s maritime deal with Solomon Islands hints at dual-use facilities"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/adff203ce018c24f1cf0f9aa42effc20","name":"Anastasia Kapetas","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c87f16bf7229713b8822cceea19a57ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c87f16bf7229713b8822cceea19a57ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Anastasia Kapetas"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/anastasia-kapetas\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72654"}],"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\/1182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72654"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72660,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72654\/revisions\/72660"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}