The US Department of State has informed Congress that it plans to establish an interim Embassy in Honiara on the site of a former consular property.

It revealed that it would at first be staffed by two American diplomats and five local employees at a cost of $1.8 million (£1.5 million/€1.7 million) per year.

A more permanent facility with larger staffing will be established eventually.

The State Department in February last year warned that China’s growing influence in the region made reopening the Embassy in the Solomon Islands a priority.

In October 2020, the two countries signed an agreement for China to help build venues for the event due to take place from November 19 to December 2 this year.

The venues include a new $53 million (£43 million/€49 million) 10,000-capacity National Stadium, with 1,000 VIP seats and six other facilities.

Last year, the two countries signed a security pact after Chinese President Xi Jinping upgraded relations for a second time following a meeting with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare

The agreement could allow the Solomon Islands request China send police and military personnel if required, leaked documents show, while China could deploy forces to protected "Chinese personnel and major projects".

The US closed its Embassy in Honiara in 1993 as part of a post-Cold War global reduction in diplomatic posts and priorities.

It has since determined that China’s rise as a regional and global power demands attention as part of America’s Indo-Pacific strategy to counter Beijing, particularly in the Solomon Islands, a key battleground in the Pacific during World War Two.

"We are seeing this bond weaken as the People’s Republic of China aggressively seeks to engage Solomon Islands’ political and business elites, utilising a familiar pattern of extravagant promises, prospective costly infrastructure loans and potentially dangerous debt levels," the State Department said in a notice to Congress last month.

"The United States needs a permanent diplomatic presence in Honiara to effectively provide a counterweight to growing [Chinese] influence and deepen our engagement with the region commensurate with its importance.

"Before [China] becomes strongly embedded in Solomon Islands, now is the opportunity to bolster Solomon Islands’ resilience and deepen cooperation on security, democratic governance, and a free and open economy."

There are fears that the growing influence of China in the Pacific region will eventually see China open a military headquarters in the area.

Sogavare assured the US and other Western allies that he would not allow China to establish a naval base in his country, but concern about Chinese intentions has not eased.

Last July, the US sent Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy to the Solomon Islands to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal, and to highlight century-long ties between the nation and the US.

The fathers of both Sherman and Kennedy fought in the Solomon Islands during the War.