China and other foreign powers may cite the need to protect their infrastructure projects in the Pacific as a front for establishing a military presence in the region, Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, who is in favor of visit in Canberra, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
His comments came after the Solomon Islands announced that a Chinese state-owned company had won a contract to modernize the port of the island’s capital, Honiara, as part of a project financed by the Asian Development Bank.
Samoa’s prime minister stressed that China is not the only major power that may want to secure greater military access to the Pacific. under the guise of protection [своих] assets.”
However, Beijing’s decision to strike a security pact with the Solomon Islands after the 2021 riots that devastated several Chinese-owned businesses in Honiara could still set a new precedent, he said.
“It was presented that China wanted to bring security personnel [на Соломоновы острова] in a certain sense to protect these assets – material and human”she told reporters in Canberra.
“Now it occurred to me… that many countries, especially through aid projects, are accumulating assets and have their staff in the host countries.added the Samoan leader. — Is it really going to be a trend now that because a country has provided assistance and has assets, it becomes an opportunity or a window through which security personnel come in?”
It should be noted that China and the Solomon Islands have repeatedly and strenuously denied the existence of any prospect of China establishing a military base in the country.
Recall, the Samoan leader came to Canberra to sign a new bilateral agreement with Australia in the field of education and health. Fiame has become the eighth Asia-Pacific leader received by the Australian government in a bid to bolster Australia’s authority in the region amid heightened military strategic rivalry between China and US Pacific allies. .
Also read: The Prime Minister of Samoa proposed to organize an analogue of the Schengen zone in the region.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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