Solomons leader: Chinese base would make his people targets

SUVA, Fiji (AP) — Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare says his new country’s security pact with Beijing would not allow China to build a military base on the South Pacific nation. Sogavare had made an agreement with Beijing in April to provide security support, with the deal raising fears of a permanent Chinese military facility off the northeast Australian coast. He used a meeting of Pacific island leaders Thursday in Fiji to strongly deny that his country would become a Chinese military foothold in the South Pacific. He said that a foreign military base would make his citizens potential targets for military strikes.