AFP: Australia urged Solomon Islands to rely on fellow Pacific nations for security assistance Wednesday during a visit by China-friendly Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele.
The Solomons leader was visiting Australia as part of a three-nation tour that will also take him to China and Japan.
It is Manele’s first official international trip since he replaced enthusiastic Beijing supporter Manasseh Sogavare as prime minister in May. Sogavare switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing and later signed a 2022 secretive security pact with Beijing that raised Western concerns.