A planned security agreement between China and the South Pacific island nation of Solomon Islands is worrying Australia, New Zealand and their allies America.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare confirmed to parliament on Tuesday that the deal was "ready for signature".
A draft of the text was recently circulated by Sogavare's domestic opponents.
It said Solomon Islands could request the deployment of Chinese police and soldiers to "maintain social order," provide humanitarian or disaster relief, or "provide other forms of assistance to be agreed upon by the parties."
Friederike Böge
Political correspondent for China, North Korea and Mongolia.
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Chinese Navy ships should also be able to resupply on the Solomon Islands.
According to the draft, Chinese security forces should be able to be deployed to protect Chinese citizens and projects.
According to the draft, they would be granted freedom from prosecution.
Both contracting parties assured each other confidentiality.
Sogavare did not respond to questions from parliamentarians as to whether the published draft was consistent with the final version.
There are fears in Canberra that China could set up a military base on the archipelago, 2,000 kilometers northeast of the Australian coast.
Sogavare called this "nonsense" and denied that his government was being pressured by Beijing.
It was "insulting" that his country was accused of "not being able to regulate our sovereign affairs or having motives other than its own national interests".
His goal is to "diversify" the security relationships of the island state.
Government seeks proximity to China
So far, Australia has been the Solomon Islands' main security partner.
After violent riots last November, Canberra sent around 100 soldiers to support local security forces.
This cooperation will continue, assured Sogavare.
China sent ten police officers for the first time.
The Prime Minister has made no secret of the fact that he wants to bring the Solomon Islands closer to China.
Under his leadership, the island nation severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 2019 and instead turned to Beijing.
The geopolitical turnaround has fueled domestic tensions ever since.
Sogavare's opponents are looking to get closer to the United States.
Washington had only recently expressed a growing interest in the region in the geostrategic struggle with China.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed during a visit to Fiji in February that America would reopen its embassy in the Solomon Islands, which closed in the 1990s.
According to a report by the news agency, the State Department justified this in a briefing to Congress by saying that America must expand its influence in the island nation before China is "deeply entrenched" there.
Beijing is "vehemently" ensnaring the political and economic elite of the island state.
Meanwhile, China has sharpened its criticism of America's actions in the Indo-Pacific.
Deputy Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said recently, “the [US] Indo-Pacific strategy is just as dangerous as NATO's strategy of eastward enlargement in Europe.
If left unchecked, it would have unimaginable consequences and plunge the Asia-Pacific region into the abyss.” Beijing accuses America of planning “an Indo-Pacific version of NATO”.
This refers to the security pact AUKUS between Australia, the USA and Great Britain as well as to the quadruple alliance Quad, which includes Japan and India in addition to the USA and Australia.
The leaders of Australia and New Zealand, Scott Morrison and Jacinda Ardern, discussed the consequences of the planned security agreement between China and the Solomon Islands over the phone on Tuesday.
It was about "shared concerns about actions that could undermine the security and stability of the Pacific region," Canberra said.
Ardern had previously warned of a "potential militarization of the region".
China accused critics of the agreement of "condescension" towards the Solomon Islands.
It is a "normal law enforcement and security cooperation".