A bit of background reading while we await news on the trade talks.
This from the Nikkei:
strategists in Washington worry about the possibility of a more substantial Chinese military buildup in the South Pacific.
A defense white paper released by Beijing in July states that China is "strengthening military exchanges with developing countries" there and elsewhere.
The article is specifically about the Solomon Islands:
- strategically positioned along a key sea lane between Australia and the U.S. state of Hawaii.
- Kiritimati, one of the easternmost islands of Kiribati -- another nation that recently flipped from Taipei to Beijing -- sits south of Hawaii, where the U.S. military's Indo-Pacific Command is headquartered. Rumors have circulated about the two island nations building military ports with Chinese support.
