NADI, Fiji (Dispatches) – The United States will re-establish an embassy in the Solomon Islands, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday, in an effort to counter China’s alleged influence in the Pacific island.
Blinken announced the move during a visit to nearby Fiji, where he met virtually with around 18 Pacific island leaders to stress Washington’s attention to the region in an attempt to curb Beijing’s push for greater influence.
The United States closed its embassy in the Solomons Island capital Honiara in 1993 and is now represented by a consulate there, directed from the U.S. embassy in Papua New Guinea.
The move comes just a few months after riots in the island chain of 800,000 people in November when protesters tried to storm parliament and then went on a three-day rampage, torching parts of Honiara.
The unrest was sparked by opposition to veteran Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and partly fuelled by poverty, unemployment and inter-island rivalries.
Situated in Oceania, the Solomon Islands is a sovereign country consisting of six major islands and more than 900 smaller ones.
In 1993, Washington downgraded its diplomatic presence in Honiara.
Blinken arrived in Fiji after attending a meeting in the Australian city of Melbourne between the U.S., Japan, India and Australia, at which the so-called Quad pledged to further enhance cooperation to ensure an Indo-Pacific region free from what they called “coercion”, apparently referring to China’s purported economic and military expansion in the region.
In the wake of the deadly protests, China said late last year that it would send police advisers and riot gear to the Solomon Islands, which was among the latest countries to cut ties with Taiwan following Burkina Faso, the Dominican Republic, Sao Tome and Principe, Panama, and El Salvador.
Taiwan is now left with formal relations with just 15 countries, mostly small and poor nations in Latin America and the Pacific, including Nauru, Tuvalu and Palau.
China has sovereignty over the Chinese Taipei, and under the “One China” policy, almost all world countries recognize that sovereignty. The U.S., too, recognizes Chinese sovereignty over the island but has long courted Taipei in an attempt to unnerve Beijing.
The U.S. Congress and the White House will need to approve the proposal of the reopening of the U.S. embassy in Honiara.