China and Solomon Islands sign security deal

China has signed a security deal with the Solomon Islands just days ahead of a visit by senior U.S government officials to the South Pacific country, exacerbating western fears over Beijing’s growing influence in the

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Senior U.S officials visits Solomon Islands this week

White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell and the U.S Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink, will lead a delegation to Solomon Islands, Fiji and Papua New Guinea

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Australia asks PM Sogavare to avoid security deal

Australia Minister Zed Seselja met with Prime Minister Sogavare in Honiara, in light of the proposed China-Solomon Islands security

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Solomon Islands PM assures no Chinese military base

Amid a regional backlash, the Solomon Islands said it would not allow a Chinese military base in the Pacific islands nation despite its plans to sign a security pact with Beijing. Following the initialling of a draft

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Australia hands over Blackrock as China concerns re-emerge

The opening of the Blackrock Camp in Nadi this month signified the culmination of “close to a A$100 million investment” by the Australian government designed to support Fiji’s peacekeeping and humanitarian

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Solomon Islands PM says China security deal ‘ready for signing’

Solomon Islands' PM says a contentious security agreement with Beijing was “ready for

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Solomons: Putting a draft security deal with China in local context

A draft MOU between Honiara and Beijing on security related issues has sparked international headlines and worried response from

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US labels Pacific Islands a climate ‘region of concern’

By Nic Maclellan A major assessment by US intelligence agencies lists the Pacific islands as one of two “regions of great concern” in the world, because of the adverse effects of climate change. The assessment of

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Pacific Islands in the wake of AUKUS

By Kaliopate Tavola Australia also needs to temper its geopolitics under Indo-Pacific/AUKUS to allow breathing space for PICs to determine their respective China, et al, policies. This would necessarily mean a

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AUKUS disrupts “a very peaceful part of planet earth”

With anti-nuclear sentiment on the rise across the islands, the Morrison government’s nuclear submarine ambitions have undercut the prime minister’s claim to be part of the Pacific family. “The sense of a regional

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Australia to arm PNG patrol boats

The Australian Department of Defence has announced it will arm the Papua New Guinea Defence Force’s four new Guardian-class Patrol Boats. The equipment will be delivered through the Pacific Maritime Security Programme

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Now is the time for an independent Pacific foreign policy and security think tank

Good foreign policy, diplomacy and sound national security in the Pacific Islands doesn’t just require solid ideas and good plans. It needs robust evidence of what works and a level of informed public debate on what

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A Humanitarian Corridor for the Pacific?

Reflecting the growing concern over the Coronavirus pandemic, the Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum  and Tuvalu Prime Minister, Kausea Natano, invoked a few days ago the Biketawa Declaration, a security

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Solomon Islands after RAMSI

ON June 30 the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) came to an end. Established in July, 2003, RAMSI has been a feature of life in Solomon Islands for more than a third of its history as an independent

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Guns for cops

AFTER RAMSI Provinces support armed forces WHEN Solomon Islands police officers walk onto Honiara’s streets with pistols, they will become the first armed force outside of former United States territories. With

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