US deplores ‘smear’ over Solomon Islands coup plot
- White House envoy Kurt Campbell, who met Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, said the US has been the subject of some disinformation in the Pacific nation
- Campbell said Washington wanted to promote a ‘positive agenda’ that tackles the region’s priorities like climate change and protection of fish stocks
A White House envoy on Tuesday decried “disinformation and smears” about US motives in the Solomon Islands, after his meeting with the country’s pro-China leader was overshadowed by unsubstantiated rumours of dark plots and geopolitical intrigue.
Veteran US diplomat Kurt Campbell visited Honiara as part of Washington’s effort to counter growing Chinese political, economic and security influence in the South Pacific.
But he also faced questions at the press conference about an unsubstantiated report of a supposedly US-backed plot to kill Sogavare that has featured in at least one local newspaper.
Rumours of coup plots and assassination attempts bubble to the surface frequently in the Solomon Islands, but the acts themselves rarely materialise.
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