Australia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands have agreed to start the construction of an undersea cable to provide improved telecommunications services to the South Pacific nation.
In June, Australian company Vocus was awarded the $137 million contract to manage the construction of the 4,000-kilometre cable.
The formal start of the cable project comes amid criticism from within China that Australia is trying to contain Beijing's influence in the Pacific.
"Instead of being overly cautious about China's rise, Australia and New Zealand should avoid misleading China's role, and other countries should be clear about the consequences of being misled," an editorial in a state run paper, The Global Times said.