Australia has reportedly agreed to a new treaty to deepen its relationship with the Solomon Islands, the latest in a series of deals Canberra is racing to finalize in order to guard against a rising China. The new agreement, which includes $700 million from Australia to the Pacific nation according to the ABC, follows a recent deal to boost security ties with the US.
In recent years, Canberra has also inked mutual defense agreements with Fiji and Papua New Guinea alongside negotiations for a similar pact with Tonga; deals with Tuvalu and Vanuatu restrict them from security cooperation with Beijing. “Rather than choose between America and China … Pacific leaders are choosing to deepen ties with Australia,” The Economist noted.