SYDNEY — The Solomon Islands will sign a deal for the US Coast Guard to patrol its waters with local police aboard, Prime Minister Matthew Wale said on a visit to Washington. The Solomons became China’s closest security partner in the South Pacific after signing a secret security pact in 2022, blocking a US Coast Guard vessel from making a port call the same year. Wale, who pledged to bring change after he was elected in May, met with US Coast Guard vice commandant Admiral Thomas Allan in Washington on Monday. READ: Solomon Islands lodges ‘strong protest’ with China over […]...Keep on reading: China ally Solomon Islands invites US Coast Guard patrols