Chinese imperialism and future Australian sovereignty

[pietillidie]

^Yeah, I read that recently. Mind you, I can't remember positive blood between Australia and many Pacific Islands for ages now, so the relationship was probably ripe for the picking. This is a reactive government full of unserious people motivated only by popular news that delivers immediate political mileage.

When it comes to non-core news, you're relying on people of insight to take responsibility in advance of problems. But those people just don't exist in populist governments, so the new normal is countries lurching from one crisis to the next when serious management would've been onto the problem long before it hits the news.

[David]

So are we saying this is better or worse than Pine Gap? Because last time I checked, superpowers building military bases well outside their own borders didn’t seem to bother many people here.

[stui magpie]

^

Cheeky. The US is an Allie of ours, China is not. They are viewed as a security and military threat.

[David]

[stui magpie]

Again, the difference is that the Solomon Islands seems to have allied itself with China and signed up to this because a handful of (allegedly) corrupt politicians had their pockets lined.

It's not a sovereign nation making decisions in the best interests of it's populace.

[David]

You may be right on that. But it’s not like China brings nothing to the table: trade deals, development, defence support and (particularly in this case) a firmer commitment to climate policy all sweeten the deal. One can rightly criticise belt and road as a thinly veiled colonial enterprise, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t make good economic sense.

[Pies4shaw]

Well, I think we can. Diplomacy is about self-interest, not consistency. From Australia's perspective, this is a very bad thing - the enquiry need not extend beyond that. From some other perspectives, it may well appear to be a very good thing - but those other perspectives are irrelevant to Australia's appraisal. Hypocrisy isn't a problem in international relations - it's of the essence.

[stui magpie]

Very good opinion piece from a few weeks ago from someone actually in the Solomon Islands who is opposed to the deal.

https://www.theage.com.au/world/oceania ... 5a8rz.html

Doesn't seem like good economic sense to me.

Our forests and people have been raped and pillaged by a logging monster that lives in China. While the legs and wings of the dragon are in Malaysia and the Philippines we know where its home cave is. We’ve watched it bribe and corrupt countless leaders, and we know it will never stop.

The corrupt political elite in the Solomon Islands central government have become kleptocrats. The nation is now an oligarchy, not a democracy. Now they are trying to steal our territorial sovereignty for private sale. The corrupt central government is no longer accountable to the people of the Solomons. This is not historic. This is happening right now.

[stui magpie]

How China co-opted Sri Lanka

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-22/ ... /101005640

[think positive]

My sister worked in the solomons for 2 years, crazy cop stories, she’s devastated, for the good people who live there.

[stui magpie]

^

I went to Honiara decades ago, nothing but nice things to say about the people there. Roll forward a couple of decades, they'll be working in Chinese factories in what used to be their land.

[think positive]

ugh, dont **** with the Wongs!!!

[David]

This article provides a slightly more sober analysis of what's actually happening in the Solomon Islands:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... llies-away

In late March, journalists revealed that China and Solomon Islands had signed a policing agreement. Someone from within Solomon Islands government also leaked a broader draft security agreement with China. In April, this agreement was finalised and signed. (Its text hasn’t been released but appears likely to be very similar to the draft.) You can see the draft here. It’s short and clear. Solomons can ask China to provide police and military assistance. If, and only if, Solomon Islands government of the day consents, China can “make ship visits to, carry out logistical replenishment in, and have stopover and transition in Solomon Islands, and relevant forces of China can be used to protect the safety of Chinese personnel and major projects in Solomon Islands.” Permanent bases are not mentioned.

This, however, didn’t stop antipodean pundits from racing to hype the threat of a Chinese base. To be fair, few went as far as David Llewellyn-Smith, who demanded that Australia preemptively invade Solomons. He was an outlier (although it didn’t stop him from being uncritically quoted in the Courier Mail). But all spoke of a base as a near certainty.

Then politicians piled on. Penny Wong, who normally displays an impressive understanding of aid and the Pacific, decried the agreement as the “worst failure of Australian foreign policy in the Pacific since the end of World War II”. Peter Dutton warned that Australia could now expect “the Chinese to do all they can”. (Although he added optimistically they were unlikely to do so before the election.) Barnaby Joyce fretted about Solomons becoming a, “little Cuba off our coast”. (Solomons is more than 1500km from Australia; Cuba is about 200km from the US.)

Amidst the racket, much was lost. Australia has its own security agreement with Solomon Islands. It’s more carefully worded, but it affords Australia similar powers to China. And China already has a security agreement with Fiji. Indeed, there was real talk of a base when that agreement was signed, but no base materialised, and the agreement has had no effect on regional security.

[stui magpie]

So one dissenting opinion that ignores multiple other analysts assessment of China as a security threat is suddenly gospel.

[David]

Didn't say anything about this being gospel; it's just another opinion. But I think it is good to add some perspective given some of the hysteria we've been seeing on this of late.