President Joe Biden will host leaders of Pacific Island nations for a summit at the White House on September 28-29, the latest US effort to strengthen ties with a region that has increasingly become a focus of competition between China and the United States and its partners. While China is the main force behind United States efforts to re-engage with the Pacific Islands, strategic rivalry has also revived Washington for its fundamental interests in the region, which have existed for decades, and well before the current US-China era. competition.
Brian Harding and Camilla Pohle-Anderson of USIP explain why the summit is happening now, what Pacific Island leaders from Washington will seek and how the United States can increase engagement.
This is the first-ever U.S.-Pacific Island leader summit. What led the Biden administration to do this now?
The United States’ engagement with the Pacific Islands has grown over the past five years. In 2018, Vice President Mike Pence attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Papua New Guinea. In 2019, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited the Federated States of Micronesia, the first US secretary of state to do so. Also in 2019, President Donald Trump hosted the presidents of the Free Association States — the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia.
High-level meetings and visits have increased this year. In February, Foreign Minister Antony Blinken visited Fiji, his first visit in three decades. This may interest you : Roe v. Wade: The Supreme Court Leaves an Evil United States. In April, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell traveled to Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, following a visit to Palau for the Our Oceans Conference, which was held jointly by the President’s Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry.
In July, Vice President Kamala Harris gave a virtual speech at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) where she announced plans for greater U.S. engagement with the region, including the opening of a new embassy, the return of the Peace Corps to the region and increased funding to the Service Forum. Fishery. In August, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy traveled to the Solomon Islands to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Guadalcanal campaign. Now, President Biden will host the leaders of Pacific Island nations for the first-ever White House summit.
The Pacific Islands region also plays a key role in the White House’s February 2022 Indo-Pacific Strategy, which states that the United States will “strive to be an indispensable partner to Pacific Island nations.”
U.S. interest in the Pacific Islands is growing because of concerns about China’s regional ambitions, including its efforts to get Taiwan’s diplomatic partners to shift recognition, as the Solomon Islands and Kiribati did in 2019, and its efforts to establish a military presence in the region. In March 2022, the Solomon Islands signed a secret security agreement with China that could lay the groundwork for Chinese military facilities on the strategically located archipelago.
However, the United States has a fundamental interest in the Pacific Islands regardless of China’s involvement. The United States of America is a Pacific nation, with territories in this region including the states of Hawaii, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam. The United States also has very close ties to the Freely Associated States, which were previously US-administered trust territories. Democratic norms are generally evolving across the region and Pacific Island countries have for decades been at the forefront of efforts to raise the issue of climate change.
What will Pacific Island leaders seek from the United States?
Pacific Island leaders want commitment from Washington, and commitment with consistency. These leaders know that the United States and its partners are concerned about China’s growing influence in the region, and several regional leaders have voiced similar concerns. But Pacific Island nations prefer Washington to engage with them in their own interests, not just against China. This may interest you : Opinion | Is Progress obsolete? The United States is now an ‘Undeveloped’ Country. If the United States’ new focus on the Pacific Islands is only driven by competition with China, they fear, then US involvement will fade when China no longer pays attention to the region. Moreover, Pacific Island countries do not want to be forced to choose between the United States and China.
For Washington to successfully counter Beijing’s influence in the Pacific Islands, it must engage with the Pacific Islands on issues that matter to them and downplay geopolitical rivalries. Pacific Island countries view climate change as their main security concern as it poses an existential threat to the livelihoods, safety and security of Pacific Islanders, and the existence of low-lying atoll states. Pacific Island nations are first and foremost looking for ways to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change — which is also why U.S. efforts to criticize China for its CO2 emissions often fail in the Pacific. (China is a major emitter, but the United States and Australia emit more per capita.)
Pacific Island leaders are also seeking greater economic development—particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is crushing tourism-dependent economies—and better protections for fisheries, including strengthening local capacity to combat illegal fishing. At the 2022 Pacific Islands Forum, regional leaders endorsed Strategy 2050 for the Blue Pacific Continent, “an overarching blueprint for advancing Pacific regionalism over the next three decades, articulating a long-term vision, values, and key thematic areas and strategic pathways for the region. .” Any plans for deeper U.S. engagement must align with the 2050 strategy to resonate with Pacific Island partners.
In addition to climate change mitigation, economic development, and fisheries protection, Pacific Island leaders may hope to see more regular U.S. engagement with the region, including the opening of new embassies, the return of the Peace Corps, and more regularity and consistency in diplomatic visits. Pacific Island leaders will also accept initiatives such as providing more scholarships for Pacific Islanders to receive education in the United States.
What can the United States do to increase engagement?
At the summit, the White House is expected to announce its first national strategy for the Pacific Islands, which will align with the Indo-Pacific Strategy. The strategy will likely include promises made by the United States government at the PIF and in the months following, and the summit will reflect “the United States’ broadening and deepening cooperation on key issues such as climate change, pandemic response, recovery. On the same subject : U.S. Attorney’s Office Releases Second Quarter Immigration Enforcement Statistics for 2022.” economics, maritime security, environmental protection, and advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the White House statement said.
At PIF, Harris acknowledged that Pacific Island nations have not received the attention they deserve in the past. Strengthening US partnerships in the Pacific Islands is only the first step for the United States to achieve its goals in the region. For Washington’s new strategy to work, US engagement with the Pacific Islands must be firmly maintained for years to come. Ultimately, for the United States to become an indispensable partner, it will need to invest time and resources in developing the kinds of personal relationships that foster and sustain diplomacy in the Pacific.
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