The United States has announced its intention to open an embassy in Vanuatu.

The State Department said in a statement Friday that the establishment of a Vanuatu embassy would “further strengthen the bilateral relationship.”

Washington’s opening of an embassy in the South Pacific nation is widely viewed as a means of countering the growing Chinese influence in the region.

The United States has also announced plans to open embassies in the Pacific Island nations of Kiribati and Tonga.
…