US Vice President Kamala Harris today announced $600 million in aid to Pacific nations in an effort to curb China’s influence in the region.
Harris also noted that Washington will open two new embassies, one in Tonga and one in Kiribati.
“It’s an important step. We’re very happy to finally have an American presence in Tonga,” the US vice president said, speaking via video link at the Pacific Islands Forum (FIP) being held in Suva, the capital of the Fiji Islands.
Washington also plans to appoint an envoy to the Pacific and launch a national strategy for the region.
Harris called on countries to “stand united” as bad actors seek to undermine the international rules-based order, without naming any countries.
“We recognize that in recent years the Pacific Islands may not have received the diplomatic attention and support they needed,” he noted.
“We will change that,” Harris pledged, adding that the US wants to “significantly strengthen its presence in the Pacific region.”
The rivalry between China and the US is at the center of this year’s session, at the expense of climate change which is particularly affecting the Pacific Islands. The forum will also discuss China’s proposal to sign a security agreement with 10 countries that have close relations with it, which some members oppose.
The region has become a focus of geopolitical confrontation between Beijing and Washington. In April, the Solomon Islands signed a security agreement with China, upending its long-standing alliance with Western powers.
Harris’s intervention is a diplomatic success for the US, as China has never been invited to make a similar intervention at the summit.
SOURCE: AMPE
Source: Capital
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