By Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia called on the Solomon Islands and China to immediately publish details of a police cooperation plan, which has reignited the U.S. ally's concerns over Chinese security ambitions in the Pacific islands region.
The police agreement was among nine deals signed on Monday after Solomon Islands 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 Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement.
"Solomon Islands and China should provide transparency of their intentions to Australia and the region by publishing the agreement immediately, so the Pacific family can collectively consider the implications for our shared security."
China and Solomon Islands struck a security pact in 2022, alarming Australia, which is the Pacific nation's biggest aid donor and traditional policing partner, and raising concerns in Washington about China's naval ambitions in the region.
That deal prompted Pacific Island nations to agree to a "Pacific family first" approach to security, the statement said.
Australia has historically provided policing support to the Solomon Islands, including the rapid deployment of police in 2021 to quell riots.
Last month, after Australia offered to keep police in Solomon Islands to provide security for next year's national election, Sogavare called for a review of a 2017 security treaty with Australia.
China has increased its police training in Solomon Islands in recent months to boost security ahead of the Pacific Games in November, for which China has donated the main stadium. The deal signed in Beijing on Monday will allow for a police presence until 2025.
Solomon Islands 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 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 China's official People's Daily newspaper on Tuesday, attended the opening of the Solomon Islands embassy in Beijing.
"I need to make it very clear that we are a sovereign country," Sogavare said in an interview published by 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)
