WASHINGTON: Top US diplomats will head to the Solomon Islands and other Pacific island nations this week, the White House said Monday amid concerns over China’s diplomatic and military inroads in the strategic region.
National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink will lead the delegation, NSC spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.
They will visit the US state of Hawaii, and also Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Joining the trip will be representatives from the White House’s NSC, the State Department, the Pentagon and the US Agency for International Development, seeking “to further deepen our enduring ties with the region and to advance a free, open, and resilient Indo-Pacific,” Watson said.
The stop at the Solomon Islands will be particularly closely watched amid worries in the United States and close ally Australia over the small nation’s recent security deal with China.
Although details remain fluid, a leaked draft of the pact sparked fears in Canberra and Washington that it would give China a new military foothold in the Pacific, including naval deployments to the islands.
Solomons Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has since said that the Solomon Islands does not intend to allow China to build a military base.
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