Only three Pacific Island nations—Tonga, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji—currently maintain standing militaries, but that number is set to increase after the Solomon Islands decided to establish its own military.
The nation of hundreds of islands in the South Pacific with a population of 734,887, according to the 2023 estimate, hasn’t had a defence force since 1976, when Britain ended its colonial rule.
However, Minister for Police, National Security, and Correctional Services, Jimson Tanangada, told Parliament in answer to an opposition question that the government had already “initiated preliminary policy” to explore the idea, which he said was “being approached cautiously, strategically, and transparently.”…
Solomon Islands Plans Its Own Military Force Against Background of Growing Allegiance to Beijing
