US opens embassy in Solomon Islands
The United States has opened an embassy in the Solomon Islands for the first time in three decades, amid China's growing influence in the Pacific region.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the opening late on Wednesday, saying that the State Department had informed the Solomon Islands’ government that the opening of the new embassy in the capital, Honiara, had become official on January 27.
Blinken said that Washington was committed to working for the Indo-Pacific region to be “free and open” and an “environment where democracy can flourish.”
“The opening of the embassy builds on our efforts not only to place more diplomatic personnel throughout the region, but also to engage further with our Pacific neighbors, connect United States programs and resources with needs on the ground, and build people-to-people ties,” he said.
He said that “more than any other part of the world, the Indo-Pacific region – including the Pacific Islands – will shape the world’s trajectory in the 21st century.”
The Solomon Islands Foreign Affairs Ministry’s permanent secretary, Collin Beck, welcomed the move, saying it renewed the two countries’ partnership and, “most importantly, our shared histories and shared values.”
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, however, did not attend the opening ceremony.
The last US embassy in the Pacific island nation closed in 1993 amid post-Cold War budget cuts. Since then, the US was represented there by an ambassador based in Papua New Guinea.
Blinken announced plans to open a diplomatic mission in the Solomon Islands during a visit to the region last year. Later that year, the Solomon Islands signed a security pact with China, alarming the West.
A spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, said on Thursday that Beijing was “willing to work with all parties” to help the island nation develop. “China has no intention of competing with anyone for influence in the Pacific Island region,” she said.
The reopening of the embassy in Honiara comes as Washington has been negotiating the renewal of cooperation agreements with three key Pacific island nations, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau.
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