An American ship to refuel and provision has reportedly been refused by the Solomon Islands, where the American-led allied forces scored a major victory in the Battle of Guadalcanal during World War II. 

The Solomon Islands in April signed a security pact with Communist China, prompting an official visit to the remote South Pacific archipelago earlier this month by Washington’s ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy. The gray area between those two events may have been a factor yesterday when the Solomons government apparently ignored the American request. 

The U.S. Coast Guard vessel was on routine patrol when its captain reportedly sought to refuel at Honiara, the capital, but received no response from the government. The Reuters press agency also reached out to the Solomons for an explanation but received none. According to a USCG official, the port authorities diverted the vessel to Papua New Guinea, the capital of which is 870 miles west of Honiara. 

Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported that the British navy “declined to comment on social media reports that Solomon Islands port access was also not forthcoming” for another vessel on routine patrol in the economic exclusion zones of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu. The Guardian report noted that “the fisheries agency for the Pacific Islands Forum, a block of 17 Pacific nations, has a maritime surveillance center in Honiara, and holds annual surveillance operations for illegal fishing with assistance from Australia, the U.S., New Zealand and France.”

As the Sun reported earlier this month, the pact that the Solomons signed with China grants Beijing port access with allowances to dispatch armed military and police personnel to the Pacific island nation. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has reported that the Solomons severed diplomatic ties with Free China “in favor of Beijing” in 2019, and that “money from Beijing has helped keep the Pacific nation’s controversial leader in power.”

Australia’s national broadcaster has also reported that the office of the prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, has repeatedly berated its “Four Corners” program, which explored China’s growing presence across the Solomon Islands, and on Wednesday singled out the ABC in a warning that foreign journalists who don’t follow “appropriate protocols” will be banned from entering the country.

Worryingly, there is now precedent for the Solomons refusing passage to additional American ships, and considering that Washington has committed $900 million in fishing assistance to the island country, it is likely that more vessels will seek to enter its waters. 

Secretary Blinken announced in February that America would be opening an embassy at the Solomon Islands and committing greater diplomatic and security resources to the South Pacific as a counter to China’s quest for political dominance in the region.

When Ms. Kennedy visited the Solomons earlier this month, it was officially to partake in the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal, which started on August 7, 1942, and ended on February 9, 1943, with a decisive victory against the Empire of Japan. The timing and symbolism of the visit could not have been any clearer.