Beijing’s bold moves in the Pacific have sent Washington scrambling to increase engagement, including by opening an embassy in the Solomon Islands for the first time since 1993.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The United States opened an embassy in the Solomon Islands on Thursday in its latest move to counter China’s push into the Pacific.
The embassy in the capital, Honiara, is starting small, with a chargé d’affaires, a couple of State Department staff and a handful of local employees. The U.S. previously operated an embassy in the Solomon Islands for five years before closing it in 1993 as part of a global reduction in diplomatic posts after the end of the Cold War. U.S. opens embassy in Solomon Islands in bid to counter China
But China’s bold moves in the region have the U.S. seeking to increase its engagement in a number of ways, such as by donating Covid-19 vaccines, bringing back Peace Corps volunteers to several island nations, and investing in forestry and tourism projects.
“The opening of the embassy builds on our efforts not only to place more diplomatic personnel throughout the region, but also to engage further with our Pacific neighbors, connect United States programs and resources with needs on the ground, and build people-to-people ties,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
The opening comes as Fiji’s new leader, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, appears to be reassessing some aspects of his nation’s engagement with China. Rabuka told The Fiji Times last week he planned to end a police training and exchange agreement with China.
The U.S. State Department notified lawmakers early last year that China’s growing influence in the region made reopening the Solomon Islands embassy a priority. Since then, the Solomons has signed a security pact with China, raising fears of a military buildup in the region, and the U.S. has countered by sending several high-level delegations.
The Solomon Islands switched allegiance from the self-ruled island of Taiwan to Beijing in 2019, threatening close ties with the U.S. that date to World War II.
“We are seeing this bond weaken as the People’s Republic of China aggressively seeks to engage Solomon Islands’ political and business elites, utilizing a familiar pattern of extravagant promises, prospective costly infrastructure loans, and potentially dangerous debt levels,” the department said in a December notice to Congress that was obtained by The Associated Press.
According to the notice, "The United States requires a permanent diplomatic presence in Honiara to effectively provide a counterweight to expanding (Chinese) influence and enhance our involvement with the region in line with its importance."
"Now is the moment to strengthen Solomon Islands' resilience and deepen collaboration on security, democratic governance, and a free and open economy," the statement read. "Before (China) gets strongly embedded in Solomon Islands." "Our ability to connect with this strategically located country with speed and accuracy has been significantly hampered by the lack of an embassy."
Since the administration's first announcement in February that it would reopen the embassy in the Solomon Islands, the country has advanced a security agreement with China, raising concerns that Beijing may eventually build a military facility there. As it has done with other Pacific islands, China has boosted its economic and infrastructure support for the Solomon Islands. U.S. opens embassy in Solomon Islands in bid to counter China
After signing the agreement with Beijing in April, the prime minister of the Solomon Islands gave the United States and other Western allies, including Australia and New Zealand, assurances that he would not permit China to establish a naval base in his nation, but worry about Chinese intentions has not subsided.
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy traveled to the Solomon Islands in July to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal and to highlight the almost 100-year relationship between the US and the islands. Both Kennedy and Sherman's fathers served in the Solomon Islands throughout the conflict.
The United States is working to strengthen ties with the Solomon Islands while also attempting to fortify relationships with other Pacific countries that it worries may be dragged into China's sphere of influence.
The United States and the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau are now negotiating the extension of their "Compact of Free Association." Within the following two years, the agreements expire.
President Joe Biden called a gathering of Pacific Island leaders in late September to introduce a new plan for the area that addressed urgent challenges like climate change, marine security, and preventing overfishing.
Biden promised that during the following ten years, the United States would increase aid to Pacific Island countries by $810 million, including $130 million for initiatives to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Following "adequate consultations," the White House also announced plans to recognize Niue and the Cook Islands as sovereign entities. The islands are currently acknowledged by the United States as independent nations.
White House representatives at the time admitted that Beijing has been able to exercise its influence because of the United States' neglect of the region since the conclusion of the Cold War.
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