A senior-level U.S. delegation met the Solomon Islands' leader on Friday and warned that Washington would have "significant concerns and respond accordingly" to any steps to establish a permanent Chinese military presence in the Pacific island nation.
A White House statement said Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare reiterated to the visiting delegation led by White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell that there would be no military base, no long-term presence, and no power projection capability under a security deal signed with China.
The White House gave no indication of what the U.S. response would be to such an eventuality, but its blunt tone indicated the level of U.S. concern that led to the dispatch of Campbell's mission to the remote island country this week.