The new US Ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, has touched down. At a press conference, she stressed the significance of US engagement in the Indo-Pacific region to counter China’s growing presence there.
Kennedy spoke to reporters shortly after leaving her plane in Sydney on Friday morning.
She said, “The US-Australia partnership is really my focus and the work that we do together in the region, security, economic engagement, climate change, health, security, all those things. So, I think that China certainly has a big presence here in the region, but I think our partnership is what I will be focused on.”
She also referred to the importance of the Solomon Islands in the region, and how the US urgently needs to do more there.
To that end, the US is on track to re-open its embassy in the capital of Honiara, which closed in 1993.
Last week, when US Vice President Kamala Harris virtually addressed a key meeting of Pacific island nations leaders, she announced plans to open embassies in Kiribati and Tonga.
The new ambassador is expected to play a key role in maintaining US relations in the Indo Pacific, with a strong focus on the QUAD alliance of the US, Australia, Japan, and India.
Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of former US president John F. Kennedy, previously served as ambassador to Japan for more than 3 years until 2017.
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