Honiara: Solomon Islands’ ambassador to China John Moffat Fugui has died in Beijing, media reports said.

He was 61.

He is now the fifth top foreign envoy to China to pass away in less than two years, media reports said.

Political pundits said Fugui’s untimely demise is unlikely to adversely impact a five-year bilateral security agreement that has alarmed Australia and the United States, reports The Straits Times.

In a notice published in the Island Sun, Solomon Islands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed Fugui died on Thursday of causes not immediately known, the newspaper reported.