A leaked draft security agreement between Beijing and the Solomon Islands’ will allow Chinese forces to be deployed to the Pacific nation to “protect the safety of Chinese personnel and major projects in Solomon Islands,” putting People’s Liberation Army forces within 1,700 kilometres of Australia’s northern city of Cairns. The “Framework Agreement Between the Government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Government of Solomon Islands on Security Cooperation” began circulating online on March 24. Article 1 of the Agreement stated that the Solomon Islands can request China “send police, armed police, military personnel and other law enforcement and armed forces to Solomon Islands to assist in maintaining social order, protecting people’s lives and property, providing humanitarian assistance, carrying out disaster response, or providing assistance on other tasks agreed upon by the parties.” Article 2 states that China may, “according to its own needs and with the consent of …