Amid a regional backlash, the Solomon Islands said it would not allow a Chinese military base in the Pacific islands nation despite its plans to sign a security pact with Beijing
A day after officials from the two countries initialled a draft agreement on security, the office of Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said on Friday the agreement does not invite China to establish a military base.
"It does not have any military overtones," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters at a daily briefing on Friday.Four people were killed during violent anti-government protests and much of the Chinatown neighborhood of Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, was destroyed during violent anti-government protests in November.
"They want a military port in PNG [Papua New Guinea]. They've got one in Sri Lanka, and they're looking obviously at other places where they can put them," he said.
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