US | Solomon Islands Countering China: US plans to reopen Solomon Islands embassy
Washington, DC: The US government is planning to reopen an embassy in Solomon Islands, media reports said,a move seen by many as Washington's move of enhancing the presence in the region where China is rapidly expanding its influence.
Secretary of state Antony Blinken is set to announce the opening of a new embassy on the Pacific island state during a visit to nearby Fiji – 29 years after the United States downgraded its diplomatic presence in Honiara, The Guardian reported.
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 much of the capital Honiara’s Chinatown, the newspaper reported.
The US had closed its embassy in Solomons Island capital in 1993.
It only runs a consulate in the nation.
Blinken flew to Fiji after a meeting in Melbourne of the United States, Japan, India and Australia, at which the so-called Quad pledged to deepen cooperation to ensure an Indo-Pacific region free from “coercion”, a thinly veiled swipe at China’s economic and military expansion, reports The Guardian.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
