WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday announced a new $810 million grant for the South Pacific islands and will increase its diplomatic presence there, amid increasing competition with China in the strategic region.

The White House has indicated that 600 million will come in the form of a ten-year aid package aimed at cleaning up polluted waters to support tuna fishing, while Washington will also increase its support for climate, aid for development and its diplomatic presence.

“The Pacific Islands represent a vital voice in strengthening our future,” said US President Joe Biden, welcoming the holding of a “historic” summit at which the United States, he said, presented a new strategy in the Pacific.

The unprecedented summit in Washington, which kicked off the day before, brought together for the first time a dozen leaders from these Pacific island nations.

If a few people carefully avoided mentioning the Chinese name in public, the Asian giant remained on everyone’s mind.

The stated goal is to reconnect with a region close to the United States since World War Two but to which China has become increasingly important in recent years through investment and training for law enforcement in particular, as well as security agreements with the Solomon Islands.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare signed this broad security agreement, with unclear outlines, with Beijing last April. Many Western countries, and especially the United States and Australia, fear that this pact will allow China to establish military bases in the country. The Solomon Islands, however, denies.

Speaking to AFP, the prime minister said negotiations in Washington to adopt a joint statement at the end of the summit, in a “positive way”, had taken into account his concerns about the regional alliance of Asean and the Quad (which brings together the United States, Australia, Japan and India) .

The United States announced a $20 million subsidy for tourism and alternative logging in the Solomon Islands.

“We hope that the United States can really provide support to the Pacific Islands to fight climate change and enhance their development … rather than playing politics in the name of cooperation,” said China’s Foreign Ministry door-speech, Mao Ning. , at a press conference.

Increased diplomatic presence

The US president also announced that the United States would recognize the Cook Islands and Niue, self-governing territories to which New Zealand’s diplomacy, defense and monetary policy are attached.

Thus Washington would be able to increase its diplomatic presence on these islands, which number less than 20,000 inhabitants but cover important economic zones in the South Pacific.

As part of this new strategy, Joe Biden also appointed an ambassador to the Pacific Islands Forum for the first time as a diplomat familiar with the region, Frankie Reed.

The United States recently announced the return of the American embassy to the Solomon Islands and the White House indicated Thursday that American embassies would also open on the islands of Tonga and Kiribati.

In addition, the United States Development Assistance Agency (USAID) will open a mission in Fiji in September 2023 and members of the Peace Corps, the United States government’s volunteer program, will be deployed to Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu and, possibly, the Solomon Islands, according to the White House. .

The summit also brought together two French territories, New Caledonia and French Polynesia, both members of the Pacific Islands Forum, as well as the American region of Guam.

Speaking on local television TNTV, the newly appointed Polynesian High Commissioner, Eric Spitz, said that “our tradition is not to gather big blocks”.

The fight against climate change is also at the center of discussion as some of these islands are in danger of sinking due to rising sea levels.

The Pacific Islands account for only 0.03% of greenhouse gas emissions, but some of them are threatened with extinction, even if the international community respects the Paris climate agreement.