By Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia&nbsp;called on the&nbsp;Solomon&nbsp;Islands&nbsp;and&nbsp;China&nbsp;to immediately&nbsp;publish&nbsp;details&nbsp;of a&nbsp;police&nbsp;cooperation plan, which has reignited the U.S. ally's concerns over Chinese security ambitions in the Pacific&nbsp;islands&nbsp;region.
The&nbsp;police&nbsp;agreement was among nine&nbsp;deals signed on Monday after&nbsp;Solomon&nbsp;Islands&nbsp;Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing.
"We are concerned that this development will invite further regional contest," a spokesperson for&nbsp;Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement.
"Solomon&nbsp;Islands&nbsp;and&nbsp;China&nbsp;should&nbsp;provide transparency of their intentions to&nbsp;Australia&nbsp;and the region by&nbsp;publishing the agreement immediately, so the Pacific family can collectively consider the implications for our shared security."
China&nbsp;and&nbsp;Solomon&nbsp;Islands&nbsp;struck a security pact in 2022, alarming&nbsp;Australia, which is the Pacific nation's biggest aid donor and traditional policing partner, and raising concerns in Washington about&nbsp;China's naval ambitions in the region.
That&nbsp;deal&nbsp;prompted Pacific Island nations to agree to a "Pacific family first" approach to security, the statement said.
Australia&nbsp;has historically provided policing support to the&nbsp;Solomon&nbsp;Islands, including the rapid deployment of&nbsp;police&nbsp;in 2021 to quell riots.
Last month, after&nbsp;Australia&nbsp;offered to keep&nbsp;police&nbsp;in&nbsp;Solomon&nbsp;Islands&nbsp;to provide security for next year's national election, Sogavare called for a review of a 2017 security treaty with&nbsp;Australia.
China&nbsp;has increased its&nbsp;police&nbsp;training in&nbsp;Solomon&nbsp;Islands&nbsp;in recent months to boost security ahead of the Pacific Games in November, for which&nbsp;China&nbsp;has donated the main stadium. The&nbsp;deal&nbsp;signed in Beijing on Monday will allow for a&nbsp;police&nbsp;presence until 2025.
Solomon&nbsp;Islands&nbsp;opposition leader Matthew Wale called for transparency on agreements signed in Beijing, including the policing plan and the elevation of ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Wale said on Tuesday that "a number of government ministers were not aware of the&nbsp;deal" and the agreement "threatens our national security and puts us in an awkward situation with our other bilateral and security partners in the region".
Sogavare, whose meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping ran on the front page of&nbsp;China's official People's Daily newspaper on Tuesday, attended the opening of the&nbsp;Solomon&nbsp;Islands&nbsp;embassy in Beijing.
"I need to make it very clear that we are a sovereign country," Sogavare said in an interview&nbsp;published by&nbsp;China's state-run Xinhua news agency on Tuesday.
"Who we forge diplomatic relations with and who we engage in technical cooperation, in development cooperation, is none of anyone's business."
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Edmund Klamann)

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Solomon Islands, China should publish details of police deal, Australia says