US opens embassy in Solomon Islands amid China threat – DW – 02/01/2023

The new US Embassy in the Solomon Islands is now up and running, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement, as Washington aims to put a check on China's growing influence in the Pacific.

"The opening of the embassy builds on our efforts not only to place more diplomatic personnel throughout the region but also to engage further with our Pacific neighbors, connect United States programs and resources with needs on the ground, and build people-to-people ties," Blinken said.

The embassy, which opened Thursday local time in the Solomons, will start out with a small staff. A charge d'affaires will manage the diplomatic outfit, which is based in the capital Honiara.

The US previously had an embassy in the Solomons for a 5-year period from 1988 to 1993. The embassy was shut in the early 1990s as Washington sought to downsize its global diplomatic operations in the wake of the Cold War.