U.S. reassessing aid to Solomon Islands after Taiwan ties cut

FILE PHOTO: Houses are seen in Honiara in the Solomon Islands, June 3, 2019.AAP Image/Darren England/via REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is reassessing its assistance to the Solomon Islands after the Pacific nation cut ties with Taiwan in favour of China this week, a senior official in the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said on Wednesday.

The Solomon Islands was the sixth country to switch allegiance to China since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in Taiwan in 2016. The move leaves Taipei with formal relations with only 16 countries, many of them small, less-developed nations in Central America and the Pacific.