• Oceania USA and China court the Solomon Islands

  • Wide angle The new Cold War between China and the Aukus in the remote islands of the Pacific

  • Oceania The Solomon Islands burn with an attempted assault on Parliament and Chinatown

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Thursday appealed for calm after the leader of the Solomon Islands cited an "invasion" threat and said his country is treated like a child with a gun over their security with China.

"We must have calm and composure when dealing with these issues," Morrison told reporters.

Morrison, who faces federal elections on May 21, has come under fire for his foreign policy after the Pacific island nation signed a

security pact with China in April.

Canberra and Washington fear that the agreement will allow Beijing to establish a military presence in the archipelago, 2,000 km from Australia.

There is "no concern" about the security pact, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said in parliament on Tuesday, lamenting

the "continued lack of confidence"

from other countries.

Without naming Australia, Sogavare said there was a "risk of military intervention" by countries that felt their interests in the Solomons were in jeopardy.

"In other words...

we are under threat of invasion, and it is serious

," the prime minister continued.

"They treat us like kindergartners walking around with 45 Colts in their hands, so you have to watch out for us," he added.

"We feel insulted," he complained.

"We have to be calm and moderate in dealing with these issues," Scott Morrison told Australian media on Thursday.

He claimed his government treated his "family" of Pacific states as equals, but said he

remained concerned about the "secret deal" between the Solomon Islands and China.

According to Sogavare, the pact with Beijing was signed because, during the disturbances that occurred in the archipelago in November 2021, the peacekeeping forces sent by Australia and other Pacific nations

were unable to protect the Chinese embassy

and the Chinese community. in the Solomons.

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