Pictured is the USS Oliver Henry, a U.S. Coast Guard vessel.
According to Reuters and other foreign media reported on August 26, recently, because the Solomon Islands refused the request of the US Coast Guard ship "Oliver Henry" to refuel and logistical supplies at the port of Guadalcanal, the ship turned to Papua New Guinea for related supplies. The US "Star-Spangled Banner" has taken pains to claim that this has exacerbated people's "concerns" about the Solomon Islands cutting off relations with the United States in order to support China, and its intention to allude to and touch China is very obvious. So, what does this seemingly mundane event reveal? What impact will this have on the relationship?
The U.S. Coast Guard ship appeared behind the South Pacific region
The U.S. Coast Guard's function is to safeguard national coastal security, territorial sovereignty, and maritime exclusive economic zone rights. Accordingly, its scope of activity should be limited to the waters of the United States itself. However, from the actual situation, the US Coast Guard often exceeds the scope of its functions, becoming a powerful tool for the United States to promote the regional strategic layout and make up for the shortcomings of naval operations, and has its activities in the Gulf War, the Iraq War, the pressure on Iraq (Lang) and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The U.S. Coast Guard vessels appeared in the South Pacific ocean this time, revealing at least a few aspects of information:
First, the United States is stepping up the layout of regional coast guard forces to lay the foundation for future in-depth interference in regional maritime disputes. As early as September 2018, the U.S. Coast Guard attempted to get involved in maritime affairs in the region under the guise of training maritime law enforcement forces in Southeast Asian countries. In a series of agreements with Southeast Asian countries in May 2022, the United States pledged to invest $60 million in arranging for joint operations in Southeast Asia led by the U.S. Coast Guard. Up to now, judging from the information that has been made public, its layout in the western Pacific region mainly revolves around three points - Guam, the South China Sea, and Samoa, in order to roughly form a mutually horned coast guard force arrangement. Guam serves as its home port and is home to three patrol boats. Two ships are deployed in the South China Sea. A ship is deployed in the Oceania region. The appearance of the "Oliver Henry" shows that it is on a mission to patrol the South Pacific. The regional layout of the US Coast Guard has quietly taken shape.
The second is to achieve complementarity and interaction with naval forces, and coast guard forces have become a new means for the United States to intervene in regional issues. An important reason for the strong promotion of the coast guard's deployment in East Asia and the South Pacific is that the United States has tried to compensate for the lack of naval operations. Compared with the Navy's method of declaring its resolve and interfering in the affairs of other countries mainly through military means such as military exercises and near-term voyages, the way in which the United States intervenes in regional issues through the Coast Guard can be described as a variety of ways. Judging from the actions taken, there are joint training, combating illegal fishing, waterway law enforcement, disaster prevention and relief, anti-smuggling and other methods, and at the same time, the usual methods of the Navy such as approach navigation can also be adopted. On the other hand, it is necessary to make up for the shortcomings of the navy's "excess but insufficient strength" and hedge the influence of non-military actors of other countries, such as the Chinese Coast Guard and maritime militias, in regional maritime disputes. The refusal of the Oliver Henry to dock in the Solomon Islands means that the Coast Guard is becoming a new means for the United States to seek to intervene in regional issues.
The third is to try to use such incidents as a breakthrough point to disrupt cooperation in the South Pacific region. While China's economic cooperation with the Solomon Islands has become increasingly close, important progress has also been made in security cooperation. The China-Intergovernmental Security Cooperation Framework Agreement signed in April this year was regarded by the United States and Australia as a "thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh." Digging out and doing everything possible to exert pressure has become a consistent trick of the United States, Australia and other countries. Obviously, the reason why the incident of the refusal of the stop was exposed is not unrelated to the cooperation between China and china. No wonder the U.S. Star-Spangled Banner speculated in a sour tone that it "seemed" to authorize Chinese warships to dock in the Solomon Islands for supplies. In addition, the Solomon Islands, which are actively cooperating with China, will be singled out and highlighted in their ways of doing things that do not take into account the reasonable requirements of the US side, so as to form a strong contrast, and then express their concerns in a seemingly objective way, which is also quite a hint of putting pressure on the Solomon Islands government.
The picture shows a view of the Solomon Islands.
Impact of the rejection of the U.S. Coast Guard vessel
In October 2019, Carl Schultz, then commander of the U.S. Coast Guard, claimed that the Coast Guard was "redoubling its efforts to conquer Oceania" and that the Coast Guard would be "a transparent and preferred partner in the region." The Coast Guard is positioned this way because it "faces coercion and hostility from China." It can be seen that the rise in the importance of Oceania is considered in the context of countering China's influence. The docking incident is only a microcosm of the united states's "redoubled efforts to conquer Oceania", and with the further reaction of subsequent parties, the incident may soon be calmed down, but its warning to regional international relations, especially China-China relations, deserves great attention.
One is that the U.S. Coast Guard is becoming a destructive force in the process of regional cooperation. Its actions with the U.S. Navy are based not on maintaining regional stability, but on countering China's influence. To this end, all means and means are available. This means that many small and medium-sized countries in the western Pacific will have to face various so-called maritime cooperation projects proposed by the U.S. Coast Guard in the future. The underlying logic of these projects is to create discord between many countries by playing with regional maritime issues and provoking regional maritime disputes, and the ultimate beneficiary is the United States.
Second, the economic and security cooperation between China and China will undergo new tests. The cooperation between China and China is based on mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, and is a benchmark for countries large and small to live together on an equal footing. The reaction of the US media to the incident shows that the United States is not happy to see the smooth progress of China-China relations, and it will definitely use the strong flexibility of the Coast Guard to seek further contacts with solomon Islands countries, and by pulling the country of residence, delay its momentum of strengthening cooperation with China, and achieve the purpose of hedging China's influence. Relations between China and China are bound to face continued interference from the U.S. Coast Guard.
Rather than innuendo China for no reason, the US media should reflect on why the US embassy in the Solomon Islands has been closed for nearly 30 years, leaving the country to fend for itself as a "forgotten corner" and fend for itself. Rather than accusing countries of refusing to dock U.S. Coast Guard ships, it is better to reflect on what so-called cooperation with the Coast Guard will ultimately bring to the countries involved. Reality gave its best answer, and on August 24, the day after the U.S. Coast Guard vessel was rejected, the Solomon Islands Prime Minister's Office issued a lengthy statement announcing that it would ban foreign journalists who "belittled" relations between the two countries or participated in "racial profiling" through attacks.
The call requirement for U.S. Coast Guard vessels is not welcome. Similarly, the logic of the US media to stir up dissension and create discord should also rest.
Author: Cui Rongwei (The author is an assistant researcher at the Institute of International Studies, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences)
Editor: Shen Qinhan
Photo: Satellite News Agency