The shadow of China looms over the small Pacific nation as Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare bids for re-election.
Australia will be keeping an eagle eye on today's Solomon Islands national election, the first since Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare signed a controversial security agreement with China.
Chinese naval ambitions in the Pacific are a major concern for Australian and its principle ally, the United States. Over past weeks, Australia deployed hundreds of federal police officers and observers for today's election at the invitation of the Solomon Islands government. "There are Chinese police embedded in the local police and they have an agreement ... in the event of any unrest, that with Solomon Islands' invitation, they could deploy armed security to the islands," she said.
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