It’s part of a charm offensive aimed at curbing inroads by China into a region Washington considers strategically crucial.
US President Joe Biden has met Pacific island leaders for a second White House summit in just over a year, as part of a charm offensive aimed at curbing inroads by China into a region Washington considers strategically crucial.
US President Joe Biden and Kiribati’s President Taneti Maamau at the Pacific Islands Forum at the White House in Washington.He pledged to work with the US Congress to provide $US200 million more in funding for projects in the region aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change, spurring economic growth, countering illegal fishing and improving public health, according to a document issued after a working lunch with the group.
Pacific island leaders were invited to the White House for the second time in two years as part of the Biden administration’s strategy to counter China’s rising influence.Washington appears to have made no progress on offers of substantial infrastructure funding and expanded aid to the Solomons. Sogavare visited Beijing in July, announcing a policing agreement that builds on a security pact signed last year.
She added the countries welcomed “the US re-engagement with the region, but don’t want geopolitical tussles to result in an escalation of militarisation.” Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka listens during a meeting with President Joe Biden and Pacific Islands Forum leaders at the White House.Fiji has welcomed the stronger American regional presence as making the Pacific “more secure”, but Kiribati said this year it planned to upgrade a former World War II airstrip with Chinese assistance. A $US29million program to assist Kiribati youth find work internationally was signed at the summit.
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