GREAT POWER POLITICS: US Coast Guard cutter is denied entry into the Guadalcanal port in the Solomon Islands stoking fears over China’s growing influence in the Pacific.

The cutter Oliver Henry was taking part in Operation Island Chief monitoring fishing activities in the Pacific, which ended Friday, when it sought to make a scheduled stop at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, to refuel and re-provision, the Coast Guard office in Honolulu said.

There was no response from the Solomon Islands’ government for diplomatic clearance for the vessel to stop there, however, so the Oliver Henry diverted to Papua New Guinea, the Coast Guard said.

China has been assertively trying to expand its presence and influence in the Pacific, and Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare alarmed some neighbors, the U.S. and others after he signed a new security pact with China.

The pact has raised fears of a Chinese naval base being established within 1,200 miles off the Australia’s northeast coast.

Related: China’s Navy Is The Largest On Earth (Yes, Bigger Than The U.S. Navy).