The Australian Prime Minister has said that a Chinese base on the Solomon Island would be “red line”. For reference, the distance from the Solomon Islands to Sydney is about 1800 miles and most of it is open ocean:
"Working together with our partners in New Zealand and of course the United States, I share the same red line that the United States has when it comes to these issues.
“We won’t be having Chinese military naval bases in our region on our doorstep.”
Curiously Australia issued this warning about sovereignty of the Solomon Islands:
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has also warned Solomon Islands it has put its sovereignty at risk by signing a security agreement with China.
Australia and its Pacific Island allies sent 2200 troops and police to take control of the Solomon Islands in 2003. Comments about possible loss of sovereignty may imply a similar military action.
In contrast the apparent support for the Australian red line in the Pacific, the US dismissed a Russian red line about NATO membership for Ukraine. The distance from the eastern Ukraine to Moscow is about 400 miles.
Should the US and/or Australia take military action to prevent a Chinese base in the Solomon Islands?
What should the US do if there are similar plans for a Chinese base in the Caribbean?
Do red lines matter only when they come from the US and its allies?
Lot of Americans lost their lives in the Solomon Islands kicking the Imperial Japanese out so they couldn’t build successful bases to cut Australia off from US supply lines.
Just saying.
Yes, the Solomon Islands were the site of the some of the early battles in the Pacific. 7100 Americans lost their lives in the effort to take Guadalcanal from Japan.
In 1941, 600 thousand Soviet troops were captured during the Battle of Kiev.
The vast majority died of starvation and disease in German prison camps.
The brutal treatment of Soviet POWs by the Germans violated every standard of warfare. Existing sources suggest that some 5.7 million Soviet army personnel fell into German hands during World War II. As of January 1945, the German army reported that only about 930,000 Soviet POWs remained in German custody.
For some reason NATO support for neo-Nazis on the borders of Russia has been a red line as well.
Okay, does the presence of US war dead mean that the Solomon Islands are part of the US empire?
Millions of Russians have died fighting in what is now Ukraine. They fought there in two world wars, the Russian Civil War, the Polish-Soviet War, and other conflicts. Does that make Ukraine part of Russia’s empire?
The Germans invaded the Solomon Islands and made it a colony in the 1880’s. The British took over in the 1890s. The Japanese invaded in 1941. The Americans invaded in 1942. The British ruled the islands as a colony until 1978.
What basis is there for Australia and the US to dictate the foreign policy of the Solomon Islands other than a history of invasions and colonialism.
none, except that we can and have the power to back it up and are willing to use that power to back it up. now, should we decide not to use that power, then we can’t and lack either the power or will to back it up.
its the original law, as old as the first two huts that started a village. law of nations.
it boils down simply, if you can, and you do, then its done (until somebody comes along who can make you undo it)
Yes, there are also questions about provoking conflict unnecessarily.
For example, in many rural areas it is legal to shoot stray dogs. Dogs are a hazard to livestock and packs of strays can attack people as well. On the other hand, it is usually better to call the neighbors to get them to retrieve the pet rather than have them find it dead with a gunshot wound. Avoiding a feud with the neighbors is a good policy.
In the case of the Solomon Islands, China could send transports with tens of thousands of troops and construction workers to the islands. That would be perfectly legal under international law so long as the islands’ government approved. It would also very likely provoke a war with Australia and the US.
Similar situations exist with Ukraine. From what I can see, the Biden administration intentionally provoked the Russians with no obvious benefit for the US. Perhaps they thought that trade sanctions and NATO arms would quickly defeat the Russians. Perhaps they thought that the Ukrainian army could defeat the Russian separatists. Neither of those outcomes is likely at this point.
Two of my uncles fought for the Navy in the Pacific.
Personally I think that that the US and Australia should prevent China from building a base that could threaten Australia.
At the same time, I think it was foolish for the Biden administration to ignore Russia’s red lines as well.
I find it ironic that Australia is declaring a red line in the Solomons after condemning Russia’s red line in Ukraine. Would an Australian invasion of the Solomons be “brutal and unprovoked” if China and the Solomon Islands ignore Australia’s red line?
we provoked nothing except the russian propaganda infecting your mind.
how many times do you have to have it explained to you. it was impossible for ukraine to join nato so long as their territorial conflict with russia existed and russia had 100% control over whether that conflict could end. russia did not invade ukraine over nato, thats just a convenient excuse. they did not invade ukraine over the azov bn. 900 guys who were not invading russia were no threat to them. even if the azov’s had an ear of someone in kiev, its none of their damn concern.
russia invaded ukraine because putin thinks he’s peter the great. ukraine is proving he’s more like an anastasia. too bad for him. sucks to be putin.
biden’s weakness and ineptitude may have helped persuade putin to invade, but he didn’t provoke anything,
nato didn’t provoke anything unless its mere existance is provocatory, which would be more an issue of paranoia putin should seek mental health for
the eu sucks, that doesn’t mean its okay to invade your neighbor if they happen to join them
I thought the West and US should have had more respect for Russia’s concern over potential threats of having foreign military interests closer to Moscow and other parts of Russia, considering what they went through in two major wars in the past century.
None of that justifies what they did in trying to conquer a neighboring country. That is no longer where we are…thanks to the actions of Russia itself.
That’s extremely close to Australia, and China has zero respect for Australia. I think it was the head of China’s state media who said Australia is nothing but gum on the bottom of Chinas boots.
I think unfortunately in the coming months to years the headache of China will make the Ukraine situation look like a circus sideshow in comparison.
