The White House has said it is disappointed the Solomon Islands prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, will not attend a Pacific Islands summit with Joe Biden next week.
The US president will host a second summit with leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum at the White House on Monday as part of his efforts to step up engagement with a region where the US is in a battle for influence with China.
“We are disappointed that PM Sogavare of the Solomons does not plan to attend,” a Biden Administration official said.
Sogavare used his speech to the United Nations general assembly in New York on Friday to praise China’s development cooperation as “less restrictive, more responsive and aligned to our national needs”, and said Beijing was its lead infrastructure partner.
Sogavare said he reached an understanding with President Xi Jinping during a July visit to China for Solomon Islands to achieve development through China’s policies, including the belt and road initiative (BRI) and the global security initiative.
Separately, China and Timor Leste announced they had upgraded bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, potentially giving Beijing more influence in the region.
The agreement came after Xi met Timor Leste’s prime minister, Xanana Gusmao, in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou ahead of the opening ceremony of the Asian Games, Beijing said on Saturday. “Both sides will increase mutual support and strengthen international cooperation,” Xi said.
Last year, when Jose Ramos-Horta was inaugurated as Timor Leste’s fifth president since the country’s independence in 2002, the Nobel laureate pledged to forge closer relations with China, especially in energy, agriculture and infrastructure.
Upgrading their ties, China and Timor Leste agreed to cooperation under the BRI championed by Xi, which could open the way for investment in infrastructure. Timor Leste is also looking to start producing natural gas from its Greater Sunrise fields around 2030, hoping to develop the offshore project that has been stuck in limbo for decades.
Both sides agreed on close high-level military interactions, an expansion of bilateral investment, and cooperation in areas including infrastructure and food, a joint declaration released on Saturday said.
Biden’s Pacific summit with the 18-member forum will take place on Monday and Tuesday in Washington.
The Solomon Islands foreign minister, Jeremiah Manele, will attend the summit instead, according to the Australian broadcaster ABC.
The office of the Solomon Islands prime minister did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Vanuatu’s prime minister, Sato Kilman, also will not attend the meeting, an official from his office said on Friday, because all Vanuatu government lawmakers needed to be in parliament on Monday for a no-confidence vote.
