Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands: a blueprint to stop a cycle of strife
In November last year, Solomon Islands’ capital Honiara erupted into three days of riots, resulting in three deaths, estimated property losses of up to SBD$811 million (A$14…
Pacific labour mobility and the existential threat of climate change
The consolidation of Australia’s identity as an Asia-Pacific nation is a work in progress. It is as a consistently attentive and engaged Asia-Pacific nation – rather than as a US…
China-Solomon Islands pact: Reading between the lines
What we know so far about the content of the China-Solomon Islands security pact, announced in April, points to Beijing’s preoccupation with the internal protection of its …
PNG and the Solomon Islands-China security agreement
Reactions to the security agreement between Solomon Islands and China were swift and relentless. Much of the rhetoric is creating needless anxieties. It demonstrates that an…
Chinese bases in the Pacific: A reality check
There was barely concealed panic in Australia when news broke that China had struck a security agreement with Solomon Islands. What if this is really a basing deal that allows…
Solomon Islands-China security pact: A feminist foreign policy answer
Solomon Islands has signed a security pact with China and set off a flurry of foreign policy chatter in Australia and the region. Understandably, the focus of the discussion is on…
Fixing Australia’s failing Pacific Step-up strategy
Publicly, Australia’s Pacific Step-up aims to win friends and influence people. Behind this facade however, a core purpose is to make sure the Pacific Islands don’t embrace China,…
Solomons: How Australia stacks up in a China aid bidding war
Australia’s election campaign has been consumed by the Solomon-China security pact in recent days. Labor has cried “Pacific stuff up”, mocking the Coalition government’s Pacific…
Solomons security pact: Sogavare, China, and Australia
Labor has described Solomon Islands’ security pact with China as Australia’s biggest foreign policy failure in the Pacific since the Second World War, but this is hyperbole…
Solomon Islands asserts its sovereignty – with China and the West
News of an impending security agreement between Solomon Islands and China has alarmed Western nations concerned about China’s assertive influence in the region. But the reaction…