China signs Solomon Islands Pact against US and Australian opposition

China said Tuesday it had signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands, confirming an agreement that, as drafted, drew objections from the US and Australia because it would allow Beijing warships to dock in the Pacific nation.

foreign minister Wang Yi of China and its counterpart in the Solomon Islands, Jeremiah Manele“Recently officially signed the intergovernmental framework agreement on security cooperation between the two countries,” a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday.