{"id":1403598,"date":"2022-03-28T01:15:24","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T05:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1403598"},"modified":"2022-03-28T01:15:36","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T05:15:36","slug":"new-zealands-ardern-says-solomon-islands-china-deal-gravely-concerning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-zealands-ardern-says-solomon-islands-china-deal-gravely-concerning\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand\u2019s Ardern says Solomon Islands-China deal \u2018gravely concerning\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnew-zealands-ardern-says-solomon-islands-china-deal-gravely-concerning%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1403598&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/2022-03-28T042452Z_1_LYNXNPEI2R066_RTROPTP_0_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-NEWZEALAND-AUSTRALIA_1.jpg\" alt=\"FILE PHOTO: New Zealand Prime Minister Ardern participates in a debate in Auckland\" \/><br \/>FILE PHOTO: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern participates in a televised debate with National leader Judith Collins at TVNZ in Auckland, New Zealand, September 22, 2020.  Fiona Goodall\/Pool via REUTERS\/File Photo<\/div>\n<p>March 28, 2022<\/p>\n<p>By Kirsty Needham and Lucy Craymer<\/p>\n<p>SYDNEY\/WELLINGTON (Reuters) \u2013     New Zealand is gravely concerned about the possible militarization of the Pacific following a decision by the Solomon Islands government to form a security partnership with China, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Confirmation on Friday by the Solomon Islands government that it was \u201cdiversifying\u201d its security relationships beyond Australia has prompted alarm in Australia, New Zealand and the United States.     <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe see such acts as a potential militarization of the region and also see very little reason in terms of the Pacific security for such a need and such a presence,\u201d Ardern told Radio NZ when asked if it would be acceptable for China to station its military vessels in the Pacific country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe do see this as gravely concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Solomon Islands opposition leader Matthew Wale said in an interview with ABC television he was disappointed Australia had not acted to stop a deal with China, after he warned Australia\u2019s high commissioner, or ambassador, last year.<\/p>\n<p>High Commissioner Lachlan Strahan responded on Monday, writing on Twitter: \u201cAustralia has raised its concerns with (the Solomons) about the proposed Solomons-China security cooperation agreement regularly and respectfully\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cPacific family\u201d was best placed to provide security assistance to the Solomon Islands, he added, with Australia\u2019s Foreign Minister Marise Payne quickly \u201cliking\u201d the tweet.<\/p>\n<p>Washington has also expressed concern about China forming a military relationship, with U.S. officials citing this in February as a reason to re-open a U.S. embassy in Honiara, the capital of the Solomons.<\/p>\n<p>Australia\u2019s Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters he would speak with his counterparts in Papua New Guinea and Fiji about the matter on Monday. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is an issue of concern for the region, but it has not come as a surprise,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Pacific Island nation of fewer than a million people, 2,000 km (1,240 miles) northeast of Australia, switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taiwan in 2019, signalling China\u2019s growing influence in the Pacific.<\/p>\n<p>Its principal island is Guadalcanal, the scene of bitter fighting between U.S. and Japanese forces in 1942-43.<\/p>\n<p> (Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney and Lucy Craymer in Wellington; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FILE PHOTO: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern participates in a televised debate with National leader Judith Collins at TVNZ in Auckland, New Zealand, September 22, 2020. Fiona Goodall\/Pool via<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":287,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1403598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1403598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/287"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1403598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1403598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1403598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1403598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1403598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}