U.S. Coast Guard vessel, the Oliver Henry, was greeted with silence when it requested permission for a scheduled port call in the Solomon Islands, forcing the crew to Papua New Guinea instead.
The incident comes amid mounting concerns about the influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the region and the ongoing weakening of democratic institutions in the Solomons, which have been leaning heavily on the Chinese amidst a period of domestic turmoil.
The USCG cutter Oliver Henry was participating in Operation Island Chief, along with Australian, New Zealand, and United Kingdom vessels, to monitor and prevent illegal fishing activities in the South Pacific….