US aims to counter China by opening Solomon Islands embassy

By NICK PERRY
Associated Press

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The U.S. says it will open an embassy in the Solomon Islands, laying out in unusually blunt terms a plan to increase its influence in the South Pacific nation before China becomes “strongly embedded.” The reasoning was explained in a State Department notification to Congress that was obtained by The Associated Press. It comes as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is touring the Pacific, meeting diplomats from Japan, South Korea, Australia, Fiji and other nations. The embassy announcement fits with a new Biden administration strategy for the Indo-Pacific that emphasizes building partnerships with allies in the region as a way to counter China’s growing influence and ambitions.