SYDNEY:
The Solomon Islands’ police skills will be boosted by China’s police presence under a new security accord, but they will not replicate practises used in Hong Kong, the Pacific island country’s top diplomat to Australia said in a radio interview on Monday.

Western allies are already wary of the treaty, fearful that it will give China’s military a strategic footing in the Pacific. They are also concerned that Chinese police dispatched there will adopt the same “ruthless” tactics used to break anti-government rallies in Hong Kong.

After local police were unable to suppress anti-government riots in Honiara’s Chinatown neighbourhood in November, Solomon Islands High Commissioner to Australia Robert Sisilo told ABC Radio that the Solomon Islands is “beefing up their capability.”

Chinese military police may be called upon under the accord, but they will be under the direction of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force, just like the Australian police who have deployed there, he said.

“In terms of dealing with them, we will try our hardest to ensure that what is happening in other nations, such as Hong Kong, does not happen in our country,” he said.

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While the security pact’s terms have yet to be revealed, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manesseh Sogavare has ruled out a Chinese military presence and stated that it covers policing because a previous arrangement with longstanding partner Australia was “inadequate.”

“We are not attempting to distance ourselves from Australia, but rather to increase our cooperation with China,” Sisilo explained.

He said that unemployment played a role in the November riots. By offering more work visas and permanent resident permits, Canberra might “further improve our relations.”

Under a labour system that allows Pacific islanders to work in rural regions, Australia had given 3,000 visas to Solomon Island natives.

“If only the system could be expanded to all of Australia’s metropolitan centres,” he continued, “where the demand for plumbers, bricklayers, caretakers, and domestic employees is enormous.”

With a population of roughly 700,000 people, the Solomon Islands rely on foreign aid from Australia and, increasingly, China to keep its economy afloat.