Just months before Beijing signed a contentious security deal with the Solomon Islands, the Australian Labor Party’s deputy leader, Richard Marles, it has been revealed, advocated for the Chinese regime’s involvement in the Pacific.
The comments from Marles, who is the former parliamentary secretary for Pacific Islands Affairs, were unearthed by The Australian newspaper on April 22 and comes as the opposition centre-left Labor Party ramps up its attack on the governing centre-right Coalition for its handling of Pacific relations.
Beijing has recently concluded a security deal with the Solomon Islands government that will allow the Chinese regime—with the consent of the Solomons—to dispatch police, troops, weapons, and even naval ships to “protect the safety of Chinese personnel and major projects in the Solomon Islands,” based on leaked pages from the document.
…