The Solomon Islands have officially signed a security pact with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that will see the PRC have the ability to have military bases in the Solomon Islands, as well as send in military and security forces personnel if requested.
This is disastrous for the Commonwealth Realm and for Western Interests, as well as Taiwanese, Indonesian, Japanese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Singaporean, Malaysian, and Brunei interests.
The Commonwealth Realm is a group of 14 nations under the same person, but a different role, Queen Elizabeth II. As Queen of the Solomon Islands, Queen Elizabeth II is represented by Governor-General David Vunagi, but mostly, she and he hold only nominal power as seen from their lack of influence over the PR China deal. Australia, New Zealand, and the UK highly objected to this deal, as did numerous of other Commonwealth Realm members who seek to grow democracy around the world via constitutional monarchies, and who hope to keep their influence strong in the Pacific as the Communist China appears to be taking more and more sea, land, and influence in the region. Australia had signed a deal with the USA and UK earlier to make them stronger against the PRC, militarily on the sea, but now, PR China will be much closer to Australia threatening Australian sovereignty via force, instead of just via influence. For New Zealand, they have strong relations with the PRC, but also have come under fire due to them sticking up for Hong Kong and banning Huawei 5G. Papua New Guinea (PNG) will also be concerned as North Bougainville attempts independence by 2027, with Solomon Islands support. The Solomon archipelago includes North Bougainville, and thus the two are both Melanesian and related. PNG will hope North Bougainville does not gain PRC support via the Solomon Islands.
The USA, Japan, and NATO as a whole have been trying to preserve the Republic of China’s (ROC/Taiwan) status quo, but now, it appears to have taken another weak turn as the PRC establishes more military territorially in the Pacific. Furthermore, there is great concern that the PRC could continue to try and dominate more Pacific Islands, and already have in places like Tonga! This is a big worry for the West as many possessions of the West and allies of the West are in the Oceanian region. For example, earlier in this century, it appeared PNG was falling under the PRC military apparatus, but luckily, that was not the case.
For the ROC, this move is highly disastrous, as it is for the other nations bordering the South China Sea, which include Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam. All of these nations wish to keep their sea sovereignty, but now, the PRC will have access to pressure these nations from the north and south and east and west, and will have allied justifications to be in international waters all around these nations for the Solomon Islands defense.
Overall, this deal hurts the Western alliance against PRC aggression.
It still leaves a question as to whether the Queen of the Solomon Islands will ever step in to fend off certain bad legislation and deals as she is supposed to do.
KTH 