SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s government on Sunday defended its response to China’s courtship of nearby Solomon Islands which culminated in a security pact, ahead of a general election next month where it had hoped to highlight its national security credentials. Defence Minister Peter Dutton in a television interview attributed China’s success to an uneven playing field involving tactics with which no Australian government could compete. The pact, announced earlier this month, is seen as a major inroad for China in the resource-rich Pacific, where the United States has long been the dominant …

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