The Solomon Islands has told the United States (US) that it is temporarily suspending the entry of all naval vessels to its ports after a US Coast Guard vessel was refused clearance for a scheduled port call last week.
While speaking at a ceremony to welcome the visiting US Hospital Ship USNS Mercy in Honiara on Tuesday, Solomon Islands Prime Minister (PM) Manasseh Sogavare said that the government has requested its “partners” to allow it “time to review and put in place new processes” before it reviews “further requests for military vessels to enter the country.” “Once the new mechanism is in place, we will inform you all. We anticipate the new process to be smoother and timelier,” he noted.
He clarified that Honiara has asked “all partner countries with plans to conduct naval visits or patrols to put them on hold until a revised national mechanism is in place” and that the request applied “universally to all visiting naval vessels.”
Sogavare asserted that his administration had made the decision after “unfortunate experiences of foreign naval vessels entering the country’s waters” without proper diplomatic clearance.
Sogavare’s comments come after Oliver Henry, a US Coast Guard vessel was unable to get clearance last week for a scheduled port call on the Solomon Islands’ Guadalcanal island to refuel and reprovision. The vessel was part of an international mission to curb illegal fishing activities in the Indo-Pacific.
#UPDATE Solomon Islands has suspended all visits from the US Navy, the American embassy in Canberra says, heightening concerns over the growing influence of Beijing in the region.
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 30, 2022
It comes a week after a US coast guard vessel was blocked from refuelling in the Solomons capital pic.twitter.com/cxYd2qXMBB
Referring to the incident, Sovagare clarified that there had been a delay in the granting approval for the entry of the US Coast Guard Cutter Oliver Henry because “appropriate information” had not been sent to his office “on time.” “Unfortunately, by the time the approval was communicated on the evening of 20th August 2022, the Ship’s captain had decided to leave our waters,” Sogavare said.
The PM added that the approval delays had prompted Honiara to “review and refine its approval requirements and procedures for visiting military vessels” to the country. “Once the process and procedures are in place suspension of naval vessel visits will be lifted,” he assured.
Commenting on the matter, Vedant Patel, the White House’s Principal Deputy Spokesperson, told reporters on Tuesday that it was “of course, disappointing that the Coast Guard cutter Oliver Henry was not provided with the diplomatic clearance.” On being asked whether China was possibly pressuring the island nation to change the status quo in the region regarding ship visits, Patel only reiterated the cutter’s mission in the region, which is “to support regional partners effectively and efficiently; protect their national interests; combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; and strengthen maritime government on the high seas and model professional maritime behaviour to partners and competitors.”
PNG's Foreign Minister Justin Tkachenko offers advice to Solomon Islands after it suspended visits by US + other foreign military vessels. Pointed: "you keep on pushing away a friendly ally, in times of need they may not be there for you." Unusual for a Pacific FM to be so blunt pic.twitter.com/5p08wr80dj
— Stephen Dziedzic (@stephendziedzic) August 31, 2022
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, though, was more direct, saying, “we’ve seen the Chinese try to bully and coerce nations throughout the Indo-Pacific to do their bidding and to serve what they believe their selfish national security interests are, rather than the broader interests of a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Apart from the US, the United Kingdom’s HMS Spey was also recently denied a port call in the Solomon Islands.
In other recent indications of Honiara’s growing closeness to China, Sogavare said last Wednesday that he would ban foreign journalists from entering the Solomon Islands if they were “demeaning” or found to be engaging in “racial profiling” by attacking the country’s ties with China.
Honiara’s relationship with Washington has grown tense after the island nation signed a security deal with Beijing back in April that could allow the Asian giant to deploy navy warships to the Pacific and also establish a naval base and station security officers in the country.
Sogavare had then reassured its littoral neighbours including Australia and New Zealand that he will not allow China to build a military base on the island and that Australia would remain the Solomon Islands’ “security partner of choice.” That being said, China did carry out joint police training drills in the country in July.
Like Australia and New Zealand, the US, too, has made overtures to fortify its relationship with the Solomon Islands. In April, the White House deployed an 18-member delegation to ensure that Washington’s “partnerships deliver prosperity, security, and peace across the Pacific Islands and the Indo-Pacific.” It also reopened its embassy in Honiara in February after 29 years.