WASHINGTON, April 18 – White House Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell and the State Department’s top official for Asia will travel to the Solomon Islands this week, the White House said on Monday, amid concerns that the Pacific Island country makes a security pact with China.
Campbell and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink will lead a delegation that includes officials from the Defense Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to three countries: the Solomon Islands, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, the White’s National Security Council Haus said in a statement.
The team will also stop in Hawaii to “consult with senior military officials and regional partners with the United States Indo-Pacific Command,” it said, without giving dates for the trip.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said concerns about China would be among the issues being discussed with Solomon Islands officials.
US policy toward the region aims to ensure countries understand the benefits of engaging with Washington and “not through China or any other country,” Price said at a regular news conference.
“We will leave it up to them to differentiate our offer from what other countries, including fairly large countries in the region, might offer,” he said.
Kurt M. Campbell, Chairman and CEO of Asia Group, attends the China Development Forum in Beijing, China, March 23, 2019. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
In February, the United States announced it would open an embassy in the Solomon Islands, part of the Biden administration’s effort to allocate more diplomatic and security resources to the Indo-Pacific to counter China’s push for greater influence. Continue reading
Solomon Islands said in March it would partner with China to address security threats and ensure a safe environment for investment in a key push for Beijing in a region US allies Australia and New Zealand have considered theirs for decades have “backyard.” Continue reading
After a regional backlash, the Solomon Islands said they would not allow a Chinese military base there. Continue reading
However, US officials remain concerned that the broad nature of the proposed deal with China leaves the door open to deploying Chinese forces in the Solomon Islands, Price said.
“We believe that the signing of such an agreement could increase destabilization within the Solomon Islands and will set a worrying precedent for the entire Pacific island region,” he added.
Australia’s defense minister Peter Dutton said China hopes to establish a military foothold in the Pacific islands, including a “military port” in Papua New Guinea.
China offered to build a naval base in Papua New Guinea in 2018, but Australia’s closest northern neighbor decided to hire Australia to develop the base instead.
Reporting by Michael Martina and Simon Lewis; Edited by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Marguerita Choy