Tensions between China and Taiwan have found an unlikely battleground – a fight over who rescued nine Papua New Guinean sailors who were lost at sea for nearly a month. The dispute came after the rescue of the Papua New Guinean nationals in Solomon Island waters after 29 days lost at sea, late in February. Credit for the mission was claimed by China in an article published in the Global Times, an English-language Chinese newspaper, on 26 February. The article claimed the ship’s captain called the Chinese embassy in Solomon…
Tag: Pacific islands
US plans to reopen Solomon Islands embassy in push to counter China
The United States plans to re-establish an embassy in Solomon Islands, a senior US state department official said, as Washington seeks to beef up its presence in a region where China is rapidly expanding its influence. Secretary of state Antony Blinken is set to announce the opening of a new embassy on the Pacific island state during a visit to nearby Fiji – 29 years after the United States downgraded its diplomatic presence in Honiara. The move comes just a few months after riots in the island chain of 800,000…