The United States has reiterated its intention to "respond accordingly" if China establishes a military base in the Solomon Islands.
Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP
However, it was light on details as to what that response would look like.
Fresh from leading an American delegation in Honiara, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Daniel Kritenbrink spoke to a media teleconference on Tuesday.
The senior diplomat described the delegation's 90-minute meeting with Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare as "constructive and candid".
"Prime minister Sogavare indicated that in the Solomon Islands' view, the agreement they've concluded has solely domestic applications," Kritenbrink said.
"But we've made clear that there are potential regional security implications of the agreement, not just for ourselves, but for allies and partners across the region."
The secretive cooperation pact between the Solomon Islands and China has prompted nations including the US, Australia, and New Zealand to raise concerns it could threaten security in the region.
Chief among the US' concerns is China using the security deal to establish a naval base. The contents of the agreement have been kept secret, but a leaked draft indicated China could provide police and military support, if requested, as well as use the Solomon Islands for replenishing its own ships.
"If steps were taken to establish a de-facto permanent military presence, power projection capabilities, or a military installation, then we would have significant concerns, and we would very naturally respond to those concerns," Kritenbrink said.
He would not go into what a response would entail.
"I think it's best that we leave it at that and not speculate," he told the teleconference.
The pact has become an election campaign issue for America's AUKUS ally, Australia. In a significant ramping up of rhetoric, Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has said building a military base in the Solomon Islands would be a "red line" for both Australia and the US.
When asked whether he was comfortable with Morrison's phrasing, Kritenbrink again declined to comment.
China's foreign affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin has accused the US and Australia of disinformation.
"The cooperation is open, transparent, legitimate, lawful, and irreproachable. The speculation that China will build a military base in Solomon Islands is pure disinformation fabricated by a handful of people who harbour ulterior motives."
Kritenbrink's delegation, which included the man nicknamed Joe Biden's "Asia Tsar" Kurt Campbell, also visited Hawaii, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea as part of their whirlwind trip.