Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Thursday he was following security officials’ advice in managing bilateral relations with the Solomon Islands after the South Pacific neighbor’s leader alleged he’d been threatened “with invasion.”
Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare told Parliament on Wednesday that opponents of his new security pact with China had threatened his country and insulted it.
Sogavare did not name the United States or Australia. Both countries have told the Solomons that a Chinese military presence in the Solomons less than 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) off the northeast Australian coast would not be tolerated.