The Latest Breaking News from Solomon Islands

Scant details released apart from promises of infrastructure support, amid western concerns that China is seeking to expand its security presence in region

Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi is touring eight Pacific island nations as part of a strategy to increase Beijing's clout in the region. The move triggered Western countries to strengthen ties and may re-boot the relationship between France and Australia, still suffering from a submarine deal that went wrong.

Australia urged South Pacific nations to spurn China's attempts to extend its security reach across the region Friday, seeking to fend off a high-level charm offensive by Beijing. Foreign Minister Penny Wong was in Fiji on her first solo visit, seeking to woo island states after the Solomon Islands took…

Australia wants to show region it is a reliable partner, says foreign minister, and to make up for a ‘lost decade on climate action’

On her first visit to a Pacific nation as incoming Foreign Minister, Penny Wong makes a public pitch to maintain Australia's influence in the region.

Australia's foreign minister Penny Wong warned on a visit to Fiji on Friday that there were regional consequences to the Solomon Islands' security pact with China, after her Chinese counterpart said interference in the deal would fail.

Countries such as Vanuatu and Kiribati expected to seek Wang Yi’s support for development and infrastructure.

Yet more proposed Chinese “security agreements” in the Pacific Islands have been leaked.

New Zealand and Australia have belatedly hit back at the Chinese foreign minister's sudden and rapid blitz of the Pacific.