US to ramp up engagement with Pacific amid tensions over China-Solomons deal

In a bid to ramp up diplomatic engagement with Pacific Island countries, Washington is set to host leaders from the region later this year, a senior US government official has said.

Kurt Campbell, who serves as coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs on the US National Security Council, made the announcement at a US-New Zealand business summit on Monday, amid rising tensions with China.

Campbell told attendees at the summit that besides hosting island leaders, the Biden administration also intended to step up diplomatic ties with Pacific countries that had not seen ambassadors or engagement for decades.

“For the United States to be effective in the Pacific we must do more, and we must do more on areas that matter and are of significance to the Pacific Islanders,” he said.

Campbell said the Biden administration would also engage with US AID and the new US International Development Finance Corporation to fund projects in the region.

He also said that the US is set to revive the Pacific Islands Forum, from which several members including Micronesian countries left following a disagreement over leadership.

“I think there is an understanding that the challenges that are presenting themselves on the global stage are not so distant - they're closer and they have direct implications,” the US official said.

In March, China had said that the “real goal” of the US in the Indo-Pacific region was to establish a NATO-like military alliance.

“The perverse actions run counter to the common aspiration of the region for peace, development, cooperation,, and win-win outcomes,” China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, stressing that “they are doomed to fail.”

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US-China row over the Solomon Islands 

China and the Solomon Islands signed a security cooperation agreement last month that would see them work together on maintaining social order, protecting people's safety, and aid, combating natural disasters and helping safeguard national security.

The presence of Chinese forces in the island country as part of the pact has become a new flashpoint between Washington and Beijing, prompting the US government to increase its focus on the region.

Under the new security pact, Beijing will deploy police forces to the Solomon Islands.

Western allies say they are worried that Chinese police sent there may use what they call “ruthless” techniques allegedly used against protests in Hong Kong in the past.

However, the Pacific island country's senior diplomat has maintained that the Chinese police presence aims to boost the capabilities of the Solomon Islands’ police force.

China warns US against establishing Pacific NATO

China has warned the US against trying to build a Pacific version of NATO and urged Washington to stop its interference in Chinese Taipei.

Speaking to ABC Radio on Monday, Solomon Islands envoy to Australia Robert Sisilo stressed that the Solomon Islands is “beefing up their capability” after local police were unable to contain anti-government riots in the Chinatown section of the capital Honiara in November.

“We will try and do our best in terms of dealing with them to make sure that what is happening in other countries where, like Hong Kong, doesn't happen in our country,” he said.

Under the bilateral pact, Chinese military police will operate under the command of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force just like Australian police that have deployed there, he added.

The United States has voiced its alarm over the deal, sending high-level US delegations to the country in recent months, including the one led by Campbell.

Beijing maintains that the security agreement is not aimed at any third party. It has also insisted that the agreement did not contradict the cooperation the Solomon Islands has with other nations.

Relations between the US and China have strained in recent years, with the world's two largest economies clashing over a range of issues, including trade, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, military activities in the South China Sea, and the origins of the new coronavirus.

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