Ardern, speaking to RNZ on Monday morning, fended off criticism of the Government’s effort in the Pacific and said “we see very little reason in terms of the Pacific security for such a need in such a presence”.

“We do see this as gravely concerning,” Ardern was quoted as saying by Stuff.

“We were in contact with the Solomon Islands, even at leader level, myself and the [Solomon Islands] prime minister, at the end of last year. Even then there was talk of China's presence as they were looking to regain stability after some significant disruption in-country," she said.

“We expressed concern over the direction of travel that Solomons was taking in terms of the security arrangements with China," she said.

According to media reports, China and the islands signed a security treaty.

The leaked draft signalled that China could deploy troops to the Solomon Islands - and potentially establish a naval base there, BBC reported.