THE SQUIZ
PM Anthony Albanese will greet his Solomon Islands counterpart Manasseh Sogavare in Canberra today for the first time since they had a “productive meeting” at the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji in July. It’s nifty timing following reports yesterday that China has been actively trying to discredit Australia to our Solomons friends with a slew of misinformation. Despite a positive last interaction, the relationship between Australia and Sogavare remains strained over the Solomons’ controversial security pact with China and awkwardness over our offer to pay for their upcoming election.

WHAT’S CHINA BEEN SAYING ABOUT US?
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) says Chinese officials have been running a coordinated disinformation campaign in Solomon Islands against Australia, Taiwan and the US to spread “false narratives”. In particular, China blamed the nations for instigating violent riots in the capital Honiara late last year. ASPI also found that Chinese diplomats tried to paint Australia as “colonialist bullies” intent on threatening the sovereignty of the Solomons by generating headlines like ‘Solomon Islands not Australia’s lackey‘. Interestingly, locals didn’t seem to buy it… Despite heaps of articles surfacing, they were shared on social media just a handful of times, and most comments were anti-China.

SO WHAT CAN WE EXPECT AT TODAY’S MEETING?
Despite the tensions, there’ll likely be some nice scenes. Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles will join the meeting and dinner at The Lodge. But with Sogavare considered a mercurial character, you never know… Solomon Islands expert Clive Moore describes him as “intelligent”, “energetic”, “emotional”, “quite paranoid”, and “self-serving” – so he’s not an easy guest to host… But Sogavare does seem to be interested in repairing ties with the West. Last week, he signed an agreement with the US and 13 other Pacific nations promising to work together to ensure a peaceful/democratic region. And it looks like Albanese has his eye on a similar prize, saying he looks forward to engaging with Sogavare to work on “building a strong and prosperous Pacific region, based on principles of transparency, respect and partnership.”