Kirsty Needham

SYDNEY (Reuters – A White House senior official Kurt Campbell will visit the Solomon Islands this Friday amid growing Western concerns about a new security pact signed by the Pacific Island nation with China.

Washington, its allies, and China urged them not to sign the deal. However, China and Solomon Islands announced this week that they have signed it. Prime Minister Manasseh Sogare told parliament Wednesday that the agreement would not compromise peace despite the flurry.

Sogavare will be joining China’s Ambassador Li Ming Friday for the transfer of facilities from China to Honiara for hosting the 2023 Pacific Games. This was announced by the Prime Minister’s Office and the Chinese Embassy.

According to a Friday statement, the U.S. Embassy in Port Moresby, Campbell is the Indo-Pacific Coordinator for President Joe Biden and the U.S. has been discussing the China-Solomon Islands Agreement with neighboring Fiji, Papua New Guinea, over the last two days.

This security agreement is an important inroad for China to the Pacific. It raises the possibility of China having a military presence within 2,000km (1,200 mile) of Australia.

Australia, New Zealand, and Federated States of Micronesia are all US allies. They expressed concern that the Pact could disrupt security in the region, which would allow Chinese vessels to replenish their supply ships in Honiara. In 2019, the Solomon Islands switched diplomatic ties to Beijing from Taiwan.

Campbell was expected to ask Sogavare not to sign the security agreement. A draft of it, which police sources leaked last month and posted on social media by officers, had already been published. Officials from Australia said that Campbell’s trip likely led to China and Solomon Islands announcing they have signed the agreement.

According to the U.S., Campbell’s delegation would also be discussing “plans for opening a U.S. Embassy in Honiara”.

Tonga and New Zealand have indicated that they would raise the Solomon Islands Security Agreement with China during a meeting of Pacific Islands Forum Leaders.

Sogavare has decided against hosting a Chinese military base. The details of the agreement, which are not disclosed by Sogavare, will enable Chinese police to guard Chinese-funded infrastructure projects within the Solomon Islands.

Campbell claimed in January that the Pacific area was where the United States and its allies Australia New Zealand, Japan, France, and New Zealand were most likely to experience “strategic shock” with regard to basing arrangements.