Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare declined a request this week to meet members of a high-profile US congressional delegation who are focused on competition with China.
The visit to Solomon Islands by representatives from the US select committee on the Chinese Communist party comes amid a growing struggle for influence between the US and China in the Pacific region.
Last year, Solomon Islands signed a controversial security pact with the Chinese government and in July, the prime minister agreed a new deal on police cooperation while on a trip to Beijing.
“We requested the prime minister’s office for talks but they told us the government is busy this week … It’s a missed opportunity,” US congressman Neal Dunn, who led the delegation, said on Tuesday.
“Like a viper slithering around its prey, the CCP [Chinese Communist party] is coiling around Solomon Islands in hopes of tightening their grip on the Indo-Pacific region,” Dunn said.
This week Samantha Power, administrator for the United States Agency International Development (USAID), opened a new mission in Suva, Fiji to support nine other Pacific islands countries
"Like a viper slithering around its prey, the CCP [Chinese Communist party] is coiling around Solomon Islands in hopes of tightening their grip on the Indo-Pacific region,” Dunn said.
First impression is that the quote is unnecessarily dramatic.
Second is that no, I think politicians should use dramatic comparisons like that, it’s fun.
Third was “Wait, vipers use venom to hunt, not constriction”
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare declined a request this week to meet members of a high-profile US congressional delegation who are focused on competition with China.
The visit to Solomon Islands by representatives from the US select committee on the Chinese Communist party comes amid a growing struggle for influence between the US and China in the Pacific region.
Last year, Solomon Islands signed a controversial security pact with the Chinese government and in July, the prime minister agreed a new deal on police cooperation while on a trip to Beijing.
“We requested the prime minister’s office for talks but they told us the government is busy this week … It’s a missed opportunity,” US congressman Neal Dunn, who led the delegation, said on Tuesday.
“Like a viper slithering around its prey, the CCP [Chinese Communist party] is coiling around Solomon Islands in hopes of tightening their grip on the Indo-Pacific region,” Dunn said.
This week Samantha Power, administrator for the United States Agency International Development (USAID), opened a new mission in Suva, Fiji to support nine other Pacific islands countries
I’m a bot and I’m open source!
First impression is that the quote is unnecessarily dramatic.
Second is that no, I think politicians should use dramatic comparisons like that, it’s fun.
Third was “Wait, vipers use venom to hunt, not constriction”