WASHINGTON: The United States plans to open an embassy in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, the State Department said on Friday, in Washington’s latest move to boost its diplomatic presence in the Pacific to counter China’s growing influence.
“Consistent with the US Indo-Pacific strategy, a permanent diplomatic presence in Vanuatu would allow the US Government to deepen relationships with Ni-Vanuatu officials and society,” the department said in a statement.
“Establishing US Embassy Port Vila would facilitate areas of potential bilateral cooperation and development assistance, including efforts to tackle the climate crisis,” it said.
The US has diplomatic relations with Vanuatu, which has a population of 319,000 spread across 80 islands, but is currently represented by diplomats based in New Guinea.
The US reopened its embassy in the Solomon Islands this year after a 30-year absence and the latest State Department announcement follows a visit this month to the region, including Vanuatu, by US Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell.
Other US embassies are planned in the Pacific island nations of Kiribati and Tonga.
Despite the diplomatic push, the Solomon Islands announced this month it had awarded a multi-million-dollar contract to a Chinese state company to upgrade an international port in Honiara.
The United States and its regional allies have held concerns that China has ambitions to build a naval base in the region since the Solomon Islands struck a security pact with Beijing last year.
Washington has also been working to renew agreements with the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) under which it retains responsibility for the islands’ defense and gains exclusive access to huge swaths of the Pacific.
The Biden administration is seeking more than $7 billion over the next two decades for economic assistance to the three countries, the State Department said last week, funds seen as key to insulating them from growing Chinese influence.
![]()
US to open embassy in Vanuatu to counter China’s Pacific expansion
Short Url
https://arab.news/g5hy3
US to open embassy in Vanuatu to counter China’s Pacific expansion
- The US and its regional allies have held concerns that China has ambitions to build a naval base in the region since the Solomon Islands struck a security pact with Beijing last year
King Charles’ brother Andrew leaves Windsor home after latest Epstein revelations
- Former prince will now live on king’s Norfolk estate
- Sun newspaper says ‘humiliating’ move took place at night
LONDON: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles, has moved out of his mansion on the royal estate in Windsor, a royal source confirmed on Wednesday, following new damaging revelations about his links to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
His exit from Royal Lodge, his home for decades, marks a new low for the former prince, following years of scrutiny over his connections to Epstein, a scandal that has cast a shadow over Britain’s royal family.
Mountbatten-Windsor, 65, had hoped to stay at the 30-room Georgian mansion for longer, the Sun newspaper said, but he moved under the cover of darkness on Monday and was driven to a cottage in Sandringham, the king’s estate in Norfolk, in eastern England.
No more Windsor horse rides
The royal, who had in recent days been pictured riding his horse in Windsor, just west of London, has always denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
But in light of the latest release of files by the US Justice Department, Thames Valley Police on Tuesday said they were reviewing a new allegation against Andrew.
The former prince’s move to Norfolk was confirmed by a royal source, who said Andrew might occasionally return to Windsor in the coming weeks while a transitionary phase was completed.
“With the latest batch of Epstein files it was made clear to him that it was time to go,” the Sun quoted an unnamed friend as saying. “Leaving was so humiliating for him that he chose to do it under the cover of darkness.”
Mountbatten-Windsor, the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth, was removed from public life when he was forced to quit all official royal duties in 2019.
Three years later, he settled a lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre which accused him of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager and, while he has always denied her account, it gained prominence again last year with the release of her posthumous memoir.
Further releases of Epstein files in the US last year forced Charles to act and, seeking a clean break for the monarchy in October, he stripped Andrew of his title of prince and said he would be removed from Royal Lodge, in one of the most dramatic moves against a member of the royal family in modern British history.
The king said his sympathy was with the victims of abuse.
Police investigate latest Epstein files
Amid the fallout from the release of the latest trove of millions of files related to Epstein, British police on Tuesday also launched an investigation into Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the US, over alleged misconduct in public office, following allegations that he leaked market-sensitive information to Epstein.
The files included emails suggesting that Mountbatten-Windsor had maintained regular contact with Epstein for more than two years after he was found guilty of child sex crimes.
He had previously denied maintaining ties with the financier after Epstein’s 2008 conviction, apart from a 2010 visit to New York to end their relationship.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday that the former prince should testify before a US congressional committee, following the new revelations.
His exit from Royal Lodge, his home for decades, marks a new low for the former prince, following years of scrutiny over his connections to Epstein, a scandal that has cast a shadow over Britain’s royal family.
Mountbatten-Windsor, 65, had hoped to stay at the 30-room Georgian mansion for longer, the Sun newspaper said, but he moved under the cover of darkness on Monday and was driven to a cottage in Sandringham, the king’s estate in Norfolk, in eastern England.
No more Windsor horse rides
The royal, who had in recent days been pictured riding his horse in Windsor, just west of London, has always denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
But in light of the latest release of files by the US Justice Department, Thames Valley Police on Tuesday said they were reviewing a new allegation against Andrew.
The former prince’s move to Norfolk was confirmed by a royal source, who said Andrew might occasionally return to Windsor in the coming weeks while a transitionary phase was completed.
“With the latest batch of Epstein files it was made clear to him that it was time to go,” the Sun quoted an unnamed friend as saying. “Leaving was so humiliating for him that he chose to do it under the cover of darkness.”
Mountbatten-Windsor, the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth, was removed from public life when he was forced to quit all official royal duties in 2019.
Three years later, he settled a lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre which accused him of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager and, while he has always denied her account, it gained prominence again last year with the release of her posthumous memoir.
Further releases of Epstein files in the US last year forced Charles to act and, seeking a clean break for the monarchy in October, he stripped Andrew of his title of prince and said he would be removed from Royal Lodge, in one of the most dramatic moves against a member of the royal family in modern British history.
The king said his sympathy was with the victims of abuse.
Police investigate latest Epstein files
Amid the fallout from the release of the latest trove of millions of files related to Epstein, British police on Tuesday also launched an investigation into Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the US, over alleged misconduct in public office, following allegations that he leaked market-sensitive information to Epstein.
The files included emails suggesting that Mountbatten-Windsor had maintained regular contact with Epstein for more than two years after he was found guilty of child sex crimes.
He had previously denied maintaining ties with the financier after Epstein’s 2008 conviction, apart from a 2010 visit to New York to end their relationship.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday that the former prince should testify before a US congressional committee, following the new revelations.
Latest updates
Recommended
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.