US to step up Pacific efforts after Solomons-China pact
The United States will step up its efforts in the Pacific following the security pact between Solomon Islands and China, conceding that better coordination is needed with Australia and other allies to safeguard the region from the growing threat of Beijing.
But two weeks after leading a delegation to the Solomons in an attempt to thwart the pact, US President Joe Biden’s IndoPacific coordinator Kurt Campbell declined to address Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s comments that any attempt to establish a military base on the island would constitute a geostrategic ‘‘red line’’.
Asked if the US could rule out military intervention if China established a base in Solomon Islands, Campbell did not directly answer, but acknowledged that ‘‘we’re just going to have to do better’’.
‘‘The United States has to step up its game across the board, and we’ve been encouraged strongly to do that by our Australian friends,’’ he said.
‘‘We indicated clearly that the Solomons is a proud sovereign nation ... and we respect that, but we also laid out that if they decided to take certain steps that we thought created a potential security risk for the wider region, then we would have concerns with that.’’
The signing of the China-Solomons pact last month – which took place as the American delegation was en route to discuss the issue with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s government – has sent shockwaves through the region.
Security experts have warned that Beijing could establish a military foothold in the Solomons, less than 2000km off Australia’s east coast, following a pattern of rapid development of bases in the South China Sea.
Speaking at a forum for the Centre for Strategic & International Studies, one of Washington’s leading think tanks, Campbell said the US ‘‘consulted closely’’ with Australia, New Zealand and Japan before embarking on the trip last month. A delegation would return to the Solomons for follow-up talks in September, and ‘‘we will also continue our conversations with Australian friends more directly’’.
‘‘Given the new strategic circumstances that we are facing, it is essential to step up coordination, engagement, partnership, and sharing of information,’’ he said.
Biden is preparing to host a summit for leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Washington, DC on Friday, where he is expected to pitch his Indo-Pacific Economic Framework to deepen America’s presence in Asia.
Biden will also visit South Korea and Japan from May 20-24, which will include a meeting in Tokyo of the Quad group of countries – Australia, India, Japan and the US.
Almost 30 years after closing its embassy in Solomon Islands, the US would expedite the opening of a new embassy, and focus its efforts on addressing issues of climate change, unexploded World War II ordnance, health and Covid-19, Campbell said.
The US would also soon announce plans to better tackle illegal fishing in the Pacific in the face of China’s vast fishing fleet, he added.
The Biden Administration would also work with USAID and the new US International Development Finance Corporation to fund projects in the region, as well as restoring the Peace Corps nation-building organisation to much of the area.