Australia woos Solomon Islands after pro-China PM's exit
Foreign Minister Penny Wong arrived in Honiara for talks with new Solomon Islands premier Jeremiah Manele, who replaced pro-Beijing leader Manasseh Sogavare earlier this year.
Australia was seeking to bolster ties with Solomon Islands "across the board", Wong said.
"We are up for a much bigger, deeper partnership with Solomon Islands," she told reporters.
"This is an opportunity with a new government to look at how we might work together even more."
A parade of top Australian officials and United States lawmakers have travelled to Solomon Islands after Sogavare relinquished the top job in March.
Sogavare was full-throated in his support of Beijing -- severing diplomatic ties with Taiwan -- and was seen as deeply sceptical of both Canberra and Washington.
Although Manele is far less strident in his backing of China, he is unlikely to reverse the previous government's position.
Earlier this week he reaffirmed his support for the "one-China" principle and expressed his "deep appreciation to the Chinese government", which has funded a string of major infrastructure upgrades across the archipelago.
Solomon Islands signed a security pact with Beijing in 2022 that set alarm bells ringing in Western capitals.
Australia and the United States feared China could use the pact as a springboard to establish a permanent military presence in the South Pacific.
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