Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the recent security agreement between China and the Solomon Islands, what steps they will take in conjunction with the governments of (1) Australia, and (2) the United States, to assist (a) Figi, (b) Papua New Guinea, and (c) other small Pacific island states, in response to any strategic plan from the government of China covering police and cybersecurity measures and marine spatial mapping.

As set out in the Integrated Review (March 2021), the UK is committed to and strategically focussed on the Indo-Pacific region. The UK's close partnership with the US, Australia, New Zealand, and other likeminded partners such as Japan, across the region, is an important part of our Indo-Pacific focus and ambitions to build a 'network of liberty' that champions freedom, sovereignty and democracy across the region and globally. The Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary visited Australia in January 2022 for talks to strengthen economic, diplomatic and security ties. On 8 March David Quarrey, the UK's previous Deputy National Security Adviser and the US' Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell, announced that the US and the UK will work together to invest in partnerships with the Pacific Islands.