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Solomon Islands
Asia

US readies high-level delegation to visit Solomon Islands after China security pact

  • Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and other senior diplomats and military leaders will visit the islands’ capital Honiara next month
  • The delegation’s stated purpose is to mark the 80th anniversary of a World War II battle and highlight the two countries’ ‘enduring relationship’

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US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will be among the senior diplomats and military leaders visiting the islands. Photo: Reuters
Agence France-Presse
A high-level US delegation will travel to the Solomon Islands to mark the 80th anniversary of the World War II Battle of Guadalcanal, months after the Pacific island nation signed a controversial security pact with China, the State Department said.
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and other senior diplomats and military leaders will visit the islands’ capital Honiara from August 6-8 and attend memorial events organised with Japan, now a close US ally.
The visitors will include Caroline Kennedy, the US ambassador to Australia, whose father, late president John F. Kennedy, was famously wounded in the Solomon Islands in a Japanese attack at sea in the wake of the decisive battle.
A US Army nurse takes the name of a wounded soldier as he is evacuated from Guadalcanal during World War II. Photo: AFP
A US Army nurse takes the name of a wounded soldier as he is evacuated from Guadalcanal during World War II. Photo: AFP

“These events will recognise the service and sacrifice of those who fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal, including US and Allied forces, the people of Solomon Islands and the people of Japan,” the State Department said in a statement on Monday.

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It said the US delegation will also “highlight the enduring relationship between the United States and Solomon Islands,” including the recent decision to reopen a US embassy in Honiara.

The Solomons in April signed a secretive security deal with China, defying warnings voiced by the United States and Australia which fear that a rising Beijing will exert its military clout farther into the Pacific.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, however, recently insisted that the Solomon Islands will not host a foreign military base for fear of becoming a target.

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