The US is accelerating the opening of an embassy in the Solomon Islands as it stepped up efforts to increase influence with the South Pacific nation, whose recently signed security pact with China has sparked concerns in Washington.
The White House said the US would expedite the embassy opening in the capital Honiara where it has not had a permanent diplomatic presence since 1993. It said the US would also send a hospital ship to help the islands with public health issues and provide it with coronavirus vaccines.
The announcement came after Kurt Campbell, the top White House Indo-Pacific official, led a high-level US delegation to meet Manasseh Sogavare, prime minister of the Solomon Islands, which is strategically located off the north-east coast of Australia.