US plans to reestablish embassy in Solomon Islands after 29 years

The United States intends to re-establish its diplomatic mission in the Solomon Islands, as Washington tries to boost its presence in the South Pacific Ocean, where China is allegedly expanding its influence.

Situated in Oceania, the Solomon Islands is a sovereign country consisting of six major islands and more than 900 smaller ones. The island chain, home to 800,000 people, was engulfed in unrest and riots in November 2021, almost a year after it decided to end diplomatic ties with the Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) and establish formal links with China.

Partly angered by the decision and partly infuriated by persisting poverty and unemployment, protesters voiced their dissent against veteran Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare. They tried to storm parliament and then went on a three-day rampage, torching much of the capital Honiara’s Chinatown.

In 1993, Washington downgraded its diplomatic presence in Honiara and US Secretary of state Antony Blinken is now set to announce the re-establishing of an embassy on the Solomon Islands during his visit to nearby Fiji.

The US top diplomat arrived in Fiji after attending a meeting in the Australian city of Melbourne between the US, 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 a briefing on the flight, a senior US administration official alleged that “there are very clear indications that (China) want to create military relationships in the Pacific.”

“The most pressing case right now is what’s going on in the Solomon Islands. With Chinese security personnel bucking up an increasingly besieged president in a way that has caused a lot of anxieties across the region,” the official further told traveling reporters.

China, Solomon Islands establish diplomatic relations

China and the Solomon Islands establish diplomatic ties after severing relations with Taiwan.

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.

Three dead, scores arrested after days of unrest in Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands police have found three bodies in a burned-out building, as police made more than a hundred arrests following rioting in the South Pacific capital in the past several days.

China has sovereignty over the Chinese Taipei, and under the "One China" policy, almost all world countries recognize that sovereignty. The US, too, recognizes Chinese sovereignty over the island but has long courted Taipei in an attempt to unnerve Beijing.

The US Congress and the White House will need to approve the proposal of the reopening of the US embassy in Honiara.

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