A position of 'knowledge' would be better than a position of...

A position of 'knowledge' would be better than a position of 'strength' ?

I think Australia needs to get more boots on the ground in the Pacific and learn a bit more about what is going on ..

We can still have a massive influence but allowing China to have paperwork protecting 'their' interests means that Australian security assistance now has to be 'acceptable' to Chinese security interest

So Solomon Islands 'China' security agreement govt becomes a proxy puppet of Chinese influence

China will now protect that Govt because any democratic attempt to unseat it 'could' be viewed as a threat to Chinese interest