Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Taoiseach to make a clear statement of criticism and condemnation of the US for its threats against the Solomon Islands.

The Solomon Islands has done a security deal with China, which could allow China to establish a military base in that country. Obviously, we are no friends of the authoritarian Chinese regime and do not recommend such a course but it is clearly the choice of a sovereign government. This was the response of the US ambassador:

Of course, we have respect for the Solomon Islands sovereignty, but we also wanted to let them know that if steps were taken to establish a de facto permanent military presence ... then we would have significant concerns, and we would very naturally respond to those concerns ...

When asked whether that could include military action, the ambassador refused to rule it out. The biggest imperialist global superpower on Earth is threatening a very small country of less than 1 million people, saying that if that country does not make decisions in line with its interests, it could face military action. Will there be condemnation of that?

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