US opens embassy in Solomon Islands, eyeing China
The US State Department told lawmakers early last year that China's growing influence in the region made the reopening of the Solomon Islands embassy an urgent priority.
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US soldiers salute during a flag-raising ceremony to celebrate the opening of the US embassy in Honiara of the Solomon Islands, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. The United States opened an embassy in the Solomon Islands on Thursday in its latest move to counter China's growing influence. (AP)
In the latest efforts to push China's influence away from the Asia-Pacific region, the US opened an embassy in the Solomon Islands on February 2 in the capital city, Honiara, US official sources reported on Thursday.
According to reports, the opening of an embassy coincides with Fijian leader, Sitiveni Rabuka, seeking to assess some aspects of his country's relations with China.
The US State Department told lawmakers early last year that China's growing influence in the region made the reopening of the Solomon Islands embassy an urgent priority.
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Regional powers in the Pacific have pumped aid into the region's islands during the COVID-19 pandemic to help them cope with the economic fallout, as the competition for influence between China and the West intensifies.
According to an annual study published by the Australian Lowy Institute, "financial assistance allocated to the Pacific Islands increased by 47% in 2020 compared to the previous year."
"There has been a massive increase in loans," said senior researcher Alexander Dayant, stating that the total funding rose to $4.2 billion, a record high roughly equivalent to Fiji's gross domestic product.
Dayant added that, "a large part of the new spending was driven by the crisis, as tourism and trade declined due to the islands closing their borders to avoid the outbreak of the coronavirus," noting that, "The Pacific region faced enormous support needs and suffered a major economic downturn."
Overall, Pacific island economies shrank by 6.4% in 2020, double the global average, according to figures from the International Monetary Fund.
The Solomon Islands and China inked a security pact in late March 2022, and Australia and the UK are worried that the pact, whose details have not been made public, could be a step toward a Chinese military presence less than 2,000 km away from Canberra, prompting an increase in tensions amid an already inflamed region. China has denied that is has plans to militarize the island.
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