The Latest Breaking News from Solomons

Australia is working with the Solomon Islands to limit China's security presence after declaring Beijing has no role to play in policing the Pacific.

Australia has announced it will pay for more police in Solomon Islands and create a police training center in the South Pacific island nation’s capital Honiara, where Chinese law enforcement instructors are already based under a bilateral security pact with Beijing

The upcoming election in the Solomons looks set to be a test of China's influence in the Pacific and for the island nation's pro-Beijing prime minister.

With more than half NZ's rejected visitor visa applications coming from just nine Pacific nations, Manasseh Sogavare made his plea to visiting NZ MPs – the start of a flood of nations competing to prove their credentials in the region.

United States Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman has reassured the Pacific region the Biden administration is watching closely as the security pact between China and the Solomon Islands takes shape, warning a military base on the islands would "create security concerns for all".

U.S. President Joe Biden sees strong ties with Pacific Island countries as a priority, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said in the Solomon Islands on Sunday, underscoring the stakes of her visit as tensions have been mounting in the region.

The purchase would give China control of an island in the Solomons with a port that could be used immediately for large vessels, an airstrip, and large areas of land, the Australian government has been warned.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy plan next month to visit the Solomon Islands, where their fathers fought in World War Two and the United States is in a modern-day battle for influence with strategic rival China.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong was no doubt expecting a cooler reception than her three previous visits to the Pacific when she touched down in Honiara last Friday. The Solomon Islands government website had not even listed the Australian minister’s visit – but it did note the first visit of a…