Alarming Solomon Islands move shows China's growing influence

The Solomon Islands signed a controversial security agreement with China in April. Photo / AP

ANALYSIS:

The Solomon Islands has triggered new fears of China's growing influence after it denied docking permission for two international warships enforcing its territorial rights.

The British patrol boat HMS Spey and the US Coast Guard Cutter Oliver Henry were compelled to divert to other ports after taking part in a 15-nation, 10-day mission to deter illegal fishing in the region.

The move sparked immediate suspicion among international affairs analysts after the Solomon Islands and China signed a controversial security agreement earlier this year.

Fears over Beijing's growing influence in the South Pacific had prompted Wellington, Canberra and Washington to urge Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare not to sign the pact. A document draft leaked in March appears to allow China to station its warships there and deploy troops to protect its investments.

Sogavare announced he had imposed a moratorium on accepting all international naval visits. He was speaking at a welcoming ceremony for the giant US Navy hospital ship USS Mercy.

The USNS Mercy hospital ship in the Port of Los Angeles, 2020. Photo / AP

Sogavare accused the patrol vessels of failing to provide the necessary paperwork in time for his office to grant approval.

"The delay in these approvals demonstrates the need for the government to review and refine its approval requirements and procedures for visiting military vessels to the Solomon Islands," Sogavare said. "To this end, we have requested our partners to give us time to review and put in place our new processes before sending further requests for military vessels to enter the country."

The new process would apply to all visiting naval vessels, he added.

Pacific Forum non-resident fellow Philip Citowicki says the move "falls into an alarming trend".

But Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) national executive director Dr Bryce Wakefield says it's too early to reach a conclusion.

"It's tempting to frame everything that the Solomon Island government does at the moment in light of its security agreement with Beijing," he said. "But it's entirely possible that the Sogavare government wants to improve its processes precisely because it has received increased international attention due to its security deal with China."

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavarewith visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Honiara, Solomon Islands. Photo / AP

Fishy business

The international naval exercise Operation Island Chief is one of four annual patrols designed to uphold the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) among the South Pacific's scattered island states.

The ability of these small nations to police their own vast Exclusive Economic Zones is limited, prompting foreign fishing fleets to plunder their rich fisheries. And the Solomon Islands – a country of 992 islands and 700,000 citizens – is strategically located at the crossroads of the North and South Pacific.

While Sogavare denied permission for the returning British and US patrol vessels to dock, he did so only after allowing the USS Mercy to commence its medical mission.

"The United States is pleased that the US Navy Ship Mercy subsequently arrived in Honiara on August 29 to begin its two-week humanitarian mission, together with personnel from Australia and Japan," a spokesperson at the US embassy in Canberra said.

But Sogavare said the USS Mercy would be the last military vessel to dock in Honiara because of "unfortunate experiences of foreign naval vessels entering the country's waters during the course of the year without diplomatic clearance granted." He did not provide any examples nor name offenders.

Ships docked offshore in Honiara, Solomon Islands. Photo / AP

But the issue of Chinese warships potentially using Solomon Islands facilities has become a cause of severe tensions between Honiara, Canberra and Washington.

"The broad nature of the security agreement leaves open the door for the deployment of PRC (People's Republic of China) military forces to the Solomon Islands," US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in April. The pact "could increase destabilisation within the Solomon Islands and will set a concerning precedent for the wider Pacific Islands region," he added.

On Tuesday, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby again lashed out at Beijing.

"Clearly, we've seen the Chinese bully and coerce nations throughout the Indo-Pacific to do their bidding, and to serve what they believe their selfish national security interests are, rather than the broader interests of a free and open Indo-Pacific," he said. "It's regrettable. We call it out when we see it."

Great power competition

The naval visit ban comes little more than a week after Sogavare threatened to expel Western media for "disrespectful and demeaning" reporting. He accused reporters of trying to "engineer regime change".

But Citowicki told news.com.au the warship ban follows a pattern of behaviour.

"It is further evidence of Prime Minister Sogavare's lurch towards authoritarian rule," he says, adding that it isn't all about China establishing a military foothold in the region but also the export of its authoritarian model to fledgling democracies.

"Beyond the Solomon Islands-China Security agreement, we have also witnessed attempts to delay elections and the opaque allocation of Chinese funds to pro-government politicians."

And Sogavare's comments that he wishes to build up his own naval capacity "poses more questions than answers".

"Worryingly, it isn't a stretch to envisage a scenario where Beijing could attempt to negotiate joint patrols in the Solomon Islands' exclusive economic zones," he explains.

The USCGS Oliver Henry was forced to divert to Papua New Guinea to refuel and reprovision.

The Royal Navy declined to comment, except to say HMS Spey had "withdrawn" its application to visit and that such changes were "routine practice".

"To definitively measure the impact of Chinese influence here is impossible," Citowicki says. "However, I'd hesitate to say the latest moves are just posturing from the Solomon Islands based on the litany of other agreements and deals between Honiara and Beijing recently."

He adds that such moves have likely raised eyebrows among other Pacific Island countries – not just Australia and New Zealand.

"We have also seen Papua New Guinea's Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko reveal plans to negotiate a security agreement with Australia and possibly New Zealand as well. This offers a glimpse behind the curtain of possible concerns in PNG over the Solomon Islands-China security deal."

But apparent confusion within the Solomon Islands government over the application and extent of the naval ban has further muddied the waters.

"It's best to wait and see how permanent this ban is and whether processes afterward are actually improved before we jump to conclusions about this being the result of Chinese influence in Honiara," says Wakefield.