Solomon Islands: U.S. Ceding Ground to China

Guadalcanal: It’s largely forgotten now, but to Americans of the World War II generation, it was as resonant as the Somme to the French or Dunkirk to the British. In 1942, several months after Pearl Harbor, U.S. Marines landed on the strategically located island in the Solomon archipelago to retake it from the Japanese for use as a staging base against Japan in the Pacific theater. When the Japanese retreated six months later, the Battle of Guadalcanal marked the first major offensive victory by the Allies against Japan.

Eighty years later, Guadalcanal, and the Solomon Islands more broadly, now finds itself at the center of another nascent Pacific conflict, this time between the U.S. and China. As both powers seek to rally the region’s states into alignment, nations like the Solomon Islands have tried a balancing act between them. Because of American arrogance, the Solomon Islands now teeters in China’s favor.

AS

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Arjun Singh

Arjun Singh is an editorial intern at National Review.

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Guadalcanal: It’s largely forgotten now, but to Americans of the World War II generation, it was as resonant as the Somme to the French or Dunkirk to the British. In 1942, several months after Pearl Harbor, U.S. Marines landed on the strategically located island in the Solomon archipelago to retake it from the Japanese for use as a staging base against Japan in the Pacific theater. When the Japanese retreated six months later, the Battle of Guadalcanal marked the first major offensive victory by the Allies against Japan.

Eighty years later, Guadalcanal, and the Solomon Islands more broadly, now finds itself at the center of another nascent Pacific conflict, this time between the U.S. and China. As both powers seek to rally the region’s states into alignment, nations like the Solomon Islands have tried a balancing act between them. Because of American arrogance, the Solomon Islands now teeters in China’s favor.