July 22, 2022
Pacific moves on from China threat
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta says she accepts an assurance the Solomon Islands’ bilateral security agreement with China is not about militarising Honiara.
She says that assurance was made in a very public way by the Solomons’ prime minster to the recent Pacific Forum meeting in Fiji.
The strategic conversation now needs to be about what type of security approaches best suit the Pacific and how members can support each other in times of need.
“For New Zealand what that looks like is primarily around natural disasters but where there is civil unrest, supporting countries that request our help, and then the other area is in relation to elections and that process, because often that can be quite testing as well for Pacific Islands,” Ms Mahuta says.