China signs pact with Solomon Islands to boost cooperation on ‘law enforcement and security matters’

BEIJING (AP) — The Solomon Islands has signed an agreement to boost cooperation with China on law enforcement and security matters in a move likely to raise concerns among the South Pacific island’s traditional partners. Details of the agreement were not released. It followed a meeting Monday in Beijing between Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare. The Solomons, which are 1,200 miles northeast of Australia, has been China’s biggest success in a campaign to expand its presence in the South Pacific. Sogavare’s government switched official recognition in 2019 to Beijing from Taiwan, the self-governed island democracy China claims as its own.