American specialists consider Beijing’s growing presence in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean as an encroachment on the traditional sphere of influence of the US and as a threat to the American national interests in the region.

Expert community got stirred up by the information that China and Solomon Islands have signed a security agreement. Although its terms are kept in secret, it is estimated that the new document will allegedly give the government of the archipelago an opportunity to ask China for military aid in case of civil unrest, and for disaster control. Moreover, the People’s Liberation Army’s ships will be able to use archipelago’s port infrastructure, particularly, for defending China’s projects and Chinese workers on Solomon Islands.

According to the specialists’ research, if all of it is true, then the agreement is going to be the most massive and comprehensive deal among the agreements China has with countries of the southern part of the Pacific Ocean. In this contest, specialists also underline the strategic importance of the archipelago’s location within the so-called “Second Island Chain”, availability of deep-sea bays and natural resources in the country.

All in all, further strengthening of China in the Pacific Ocean will provoke serious concerns in the White House. Political analysts remind, that during his “historical” visit to Oceania (Australia and Fiji) on February Antony Blinken announced the US would reopen its embassy on the Solomon Island, which was shuttered 30 years ago. This decision is seen as an attempt to curb the China’s growing influence in this part of the World. By the way, the decision of Solomon Island to break diplomatic relations with Taiwan in favor of China in 2019 was badly received by the region.

Many believe that the US Administration will exert every effort to prevent any further security agreement between China and Solomon Islands. US will involve in this its regional allies - Australia and New Zealand.

Something tells me that we are going to see the actual steps of the US pretty soon.