Kurt Campbell, Joe Biden’s top Asia official, is expected to head to the Solomons for talks this month, looking to pour cold water on the China deal. The revelation has set teeth on edge in the military establishment in Oahu. But China is now increasingly doing the same: in recent weeks, a draft security pact with the Solomon Islands has surfaced that, if inked, would allow China to station units and park ships on the archipelago, which is geographically closer to Hawaii than Beijing. Simply, how to get personnel and hardware across all that ocean in the event of a flash scenario such as a surprise attack, a collision in the South China Sea or the invasion of an ally.Īmerica has typically forged partnerships with atoll nations and small island chains across the Pacific to achieve this, allowing US units to island-hop and thereby project US power when needed. It’s described in pretty stark terms: the top brass talk of the “tyranny of distance”, which is the challenge of working in such a vast expanse.
I’ve just returned from a few days reporting in Hawaii, talking to various branches of the US military stationed on Oahu about the state of play across Asia-Pacific.
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