China's Security Agreement with the Solomon Islands: Expansion of China’s Power Projection in Island Chain

The Solomon Islands are a group of hundreds of islands east of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. As the US and its allies continue their provocative actions against China regarding Taiwan, China clarified the scale and scope of its geostrategic ambitions in the Pacific Islands in the first half of 2022. The first indication was the disclosure of the draft of a secret security treaty between China and the Solomon Islands in March. This descriptive-analytical study aims to discuss the nature of this security agreement and its effect on the power of China in the island chain. The main research questions were as follows: 1- What is the position of China’s power projection strategy in the island chain in the foreign policy of China? and 2- What is the role of the Solomon Islands in this strategy? The study findings generally suggested that China is attempting to broaden its sphere of influence over the "island chain" in order to change the balance of power against the superior pole. In addition, the strategic importance of the Solomon Islands to China lies in its geographical location as the third island chain.