White House Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific region Curt Campbell announced yesterday that he expects to see more visits by U.S. government officials to Pacific island countries as Washington accelerates its involvement in the region to reduce its influence.
Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and during an event, Campbell said it was necessary for the United States to develop more diplomacy mechanisms throughout the region, but also to communicate more with Pacific island countries, which at times “receive less attention ”from Washington.
“I think you will see more government officials, more high-ranking officials visiting the Pacific as we move forward. So again, there will be immediate involvement, recognizing that nothing can really replace a diplomatic presence on the ground,” he said. Campbell.
The government of President Joe Biden has pledged more resources to the Indo-Pacific region, as China has stepped up economic, military and police ties with strategic Pacific island nations seeking foreign investment.
Indicative of Beijing’s escalating influence was the defense security agreement with the Solomon Islands signed this year, a development that has caused concern in Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
“Sovereignty plays a central role in how we see the Pacific region as a whole. Any initiative that limits or challenges that sovereignty, I think, should be of concern,” Campbell said, without making a direct reference to China.
Washington has said it will speed up the opening of an embassy in the Solomon Islands, as announced earlier this year when US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited the Fiji Islands. It was the US Secretary of State’s first visit to the region in decades.
Campbell envisions that Fiji could become a beacon of American influence for the region.
“I want to emphasize that our influence in the Pacific will be nothing without the Pacific,” Campbell said, acknowledging that the United States has not always taken the needs of the islanders into account. .
“We do not take these ties for granted,” Campbell said.
SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
Source: Capital
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