US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy will be among a second US delegation to visit Solomon Islands in recent months, after the April visit by a team led by senior White House official Kurt Campbell.
Ambassador Caroline Kennedy will travel to the Solomon Islands next month, along with other senior US officials.US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy plan next month to visit the Solomon Islands, where their fathers fought in World War Two and the United States is in a modern-day battle for influence with strategic rival China.
As well as Ms Kennedy - whose father, assassinated US President John F. Kennedy, took part in the Solomon Islands campaign as a patrol boat captain in World War Two - Sherman's delegation will include Marine Corps Lieutenant General Stephen Sklenka, deputy commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and the Marine Corps commander for the Pacific, Lieutenant General Stephen Rudder.
In Honiara, Sherman will deliver remarks at a US-organised ceremony on Skyline Ridge, site of the US Guadalcanal Memorial, as well as at a Solomon Islands-hosted memorial at Bloody Ridge. A State Department spokesperson said Washington was seeking to "significantly deepen" engagement with the Pacific islands "and embark on a new positive chapter ... with increased American presence where we will commit to work with the Pacific Islands in the short- and long-term to address the most pressing issues that they face.
Beijing's growing influence was highlighted by its security pact with the Solomon Islands this year, a move that fanned concerns in Australia, New Zealand and the United States.China's influence in the Pacific is growing. A former leader says it's a 'scary development'
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