Would China and the US start a war in Oceania over the Solomon Islands?

Despite recent statements from Beijing, whose Foreign Ministry spokesman described as «pure misinformation» the «speculation that China is going to build a military base in the Solomon Islands», the United States has again warned about the concerns the White House has over “the security agreement” that the island country signed with the Asian giant.

The US Undersecretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, Daniel Kritenbrink, declared this Tuesday during a teleconference that, in the event that China establishes a military installation in that archipelago, located in Oceania about 5,800 kilometers from Hawaii, this would arouse «significant concerns» in Washington, to which it would respond to «quite naturally».

«We emphasize that we, of course, respect the sovereignty of the Solomon Islands, but we also wanted to let you know that if steps were taken to establish a ‘de facto’ permanent military presence, force projection capabilities or a military installation, then, we would have significant concerns and we would respond, quite naturally, to those concerns», said Kritenbrink.

Asked what kind of response the US, Australia and other allies would give «if China were to go ahead with some kind of military presence in the Solomon Islands», Kritenbrink did not mention a potential military response and declined to give a concrete answer, informed RT.

«Look, I’m not going to speculate and I’m not in a position to talk about what the US could or could not do in such a situation», replied the deputy secretary of State.

Kritenbrink recalled that during the recent visit of a US diplomatic delegation to the Solomon Islands, the prime minister of the oceanic country, Manasseh Sogavare, «reiterated his specific guarantees» on each of Washington’s three concerns: «that there would be no military base, no long-term [Chinese military] presence and no force projection capability, something he has said publicly» in other occasions.

The same information was confirmed by the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who repeated the president’s promises before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday. Sogavare «has promised, both publicly and privately, that there will be no Chinese military base, no long-term presence, no force projection capability», Blinken said, promising that Washington will monitor «very closely» the developments of the situation «in the coming weeks and months».

China: ‘They are not America’s backyard’

Meanwhile, Beijing rejected statements attributing plans to create a military base in the Solomon Islands, insisting that its security cooperation with the oceanic nation «is based on equality and mutual benefits».

Faced with accusations from the US and Australia of lack of transparency in their security agreement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin accused the AUKUS military alliance, made up of Australia, the US and the UK of the same thing. 

«When will the US and Australia invite the South Pacific island countries and other countries in the region to review AUKUS cooperation?» he asked at a press conference on Monday, recalling that «the South Pacific island countries are Independent and sovereign States, not a backyard of the US or Australia».

«The US states that China ‘s military presence will cause serious concern. If we follow that logic, the nearly 800 military bases in 80 countries and regions around the world, run by the US, have been of great concern to the world for a long time. When will the US close those bases?”, asked Wang Wenbin.

Reiterating his remarks on Monday, Wang again pointed out on Wednesday that attempts to apply the Monroe Doctrine in the South Pacific do not have any support among the population and will not be successful.

«The US and Australia must respect the rights and freedoms of the South Pacific island countries to have exchanges and cooperation with other countries. The attempt to apply the Monroe Doctrine in the South Pacific region is not popular and will lead nowhere», he said.

Likewise, the Chinese State newspaper Global Times dedicated an article to the comments of the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, who had asserted that a Chinese military base in the Solomon Islands would be a red line for his government.

«Wait. Are Australia and the US, the countries that have been provoking other countries, setting the standard for a ‘red line’? Has NATO, which has provoked Russia for decades with its eastward expansion, respected Russia’s red line? And has Australia, which continued to send lethal weapons into the war zone to support Ukraine, ever considered Russia’s red line?», asked the article in the Global Times.

The Monroe Doctrine

In 1823, then-President of the United States, James Monroe, addressed a speech to Congress that would later become known as the Monroe Doctrine. There he expressed the well-known phrase: «America for the Americans».

In his argument, the president made it clear that any attempt at European colonization in Latin America would be considered a hostile demonstration against the United States.

According to the book ‘Latin American Security and Geopolitics Dictionary’, by Miguel Ángel Barrios, «since 1823, the Monroe Doctrine has been the centerpiece of US policy towards Latin America and has served to justify frequent economic and military interventions».