As a further step to its engagement with the Pacific Islands, the US President Joe Biden hosted the first US-Pacific Island Country Summit in Washington, D.C. on September 28-29, 2022. President Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken participated in the Summit and discussed, key issues of cooperation including climate change, pandemic response, economic recovery, maritime security, environmental protection, and advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific.[1] Representatives from Australia and New Zealand and Henry Puna, the Secretary General of Pacific Island Forum (PIF), were Observers to the Summit, Kiribati which has recently announced its decision to withdraw from the PIF remained absent from the Summit.
Welcoming the leaders of the Pacific Islands, for the first time together, in Washington, President Biden, in his statement at the Summit said that, “security in the Pacific and for the Pacific Islanders remains as critical as ever to us. The security of America, quite frankly, and the world depends on your security and the security of the Pacific Islands”. He also stated that “the Pacific Islands are a critical voice in shaping the future of the Indo-Pacific...The administration in the US is committed to strengthen its partnership with Pacific Islands and the Pacific Island Forum.”[2]
At the Summit, the White House released the first ever national ‘US Pacific Partnership Strategy’, as a key component to the broader Indo-Pacific strategy of the US.[3] In addition the US also released the ‘Declaration on U.S.-Pacific Partnership’ and ‘Fact Sheet: Roadmap for a 21st-Century U.S.-Pacific Island Partnership’. The three documents and the Summit highlighted that “elevating broader and deeper engagement with the Pacific Islands both individually and collectively, is a priority of the US’ foreign policy”.[4]
In recent years, Pacific Islands are finding an increasingly important place in diplomatic discourse and documents in the US. The latest US Indo-Pacific Strategy 2022 had highlighted that the US “will seek to be an indispensable partner to Pacific Island nations, expand diplomatic presence in the region and build defence capacities.[5] The Quad Leaders’ Summit statement issued after the in-person meeting in Tokyo on May 22, 2022, also mentioned that Quad countries are fully committed to address the needs of the Pacific partners. “We will strengthen cooperation with Pacific Island countries to enhance their economic well-being, strengthen their health infrastructure and environmental resilience, improve their maritime security and sustain fisheries, provide sustainable infrastructure and mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change, we are committed to working together to address the needs of Pacific Islands.[6]
The timing of the US-Pacific Islands Summit is significant as it comes interestingly against the backdrop of swift geopolitical changes in the region. The small island states in the region are attracting greater attention from regional and extra regional powers in recent years. Of which the most noticeable have been China’s deeper inroads in the region. China also has hosted two leader’s level Summit with Pacific Islands, in the past. China’s assertive engagement with islands in the region and extensive investment in various infrastructure projects, have been creating apprehensions about the possibility of an active Chinese military presence in the region. Of late the US-China contestations in the Pacific Island region have been intensifying.
The Pacific Island region connects the US with the broader Indo-Pacific region. There was a perception that in the post-war period the US has been taking the region for granted. However, with the recent geopolitical changes in the region, the US has begun to take Oceania region as a whole much more seriously as reflected by recent high-level visits including the first visit by a Defence Secretary to Palau in 2020, which later offered to host a US base and US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken’s visit to Fiji – the first such high level visit in 36 years, in February 2022. In April 2022, a high-level US delegation – led by National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell, toured the Pacific region and also visited the Solomon Islands soon after the country signed a deal with China. The US is working towards negotiations for renewing Compacts of Free Association with the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), and Palau. The US' decision to “heighten its engagement with this vital region, reflected in its recent appointment of a Special Presidential Envoy for Compact Negotiations and its commitments to expand its physical diplomatic presence across the Pacific”.[7] The US also plans to reopen its embassy in Solomon Islands. The US also announced that it will ‘begin discussion with other countries including Kiribati and Tonga, regarding developing embassies”, which would expand the number of Pacific Island embassies from six to nine.[8]
The Pacific Partnership Strategy also highlighted US’ commitment to bolster Pacific regionalism and transparent and accountable regional architecture.[9] During the recent Summit President Biden nominated a veteran US Ambassador acquainted with the region, Frankie Reed, as the first-ever US envoy to the PIF.[10] The US, is a Dialogue Partner of PIF. In August 2021, the US had participated for the first time in the PIF Summit, at the Presidential level, when President Joe Biden addressed the virtual Summit. In July 2022, Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the 51st Forum meeting virtually where she stressed that the US has “an enduring commitment to the Pacific Islands”….“In recent years, the Pacific Islands may not have received the diplomatic attention and support that the region deserves, that is going to change now”.[11]
Climate change, of course, was one of the top agenda, discussed at the Summit, as the small islands in the region battle existential rises in sea levels, threatening the livelihoods, security, and wellbeing of people in the Pacific. To match the US’ ambition with resourcing, speaking at the September 2022 Summit, President Biden announced $810 million funding for Pacific Islands.[12] This includes more than $130 million in new investments to support climate resilience and to build sustainable blue economies in the Pacific Islands, to build an early warning system capacity. This President Biden said will build on approximately $375 million in climate program that the US already has in the region. [13]
The Strategy also highlighted that the US will support marine conservation, maritime security in the region and also aims to benefit the Pacific Islands by implementing the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA)announced at the Quad 2022 Summit. The IPMDA announced by Quad members, which aims to coordinate actions of three fusion centers, in the Indian Ocean (Gurugram), in Southeast Asia (Singapore) and in the Pacific Islands (Solomon Islands and Vanuatu). It also mentioned that the US will also support the Islands in sustainably managing their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), including fisheries and protected areas. The US announced that it will work towards concluding negotiations on the South Pacific Tuna Treaty Annex amendments (the parties have been negotiating the terms of revised treaty and annex since 2009). The Tuna Treaty signed in 1987 between the US and 16 countries in South Pacific, allows US vessels to fish in the EEZs of the Pacific island countries. The Strategy highlighted that US is willing to collaborate its actions and to leverage its multilateral partnerships with France, Korea, the EU, India, and other partners of the Pacific Islands.
Although the Summit did discuss the issues of concern for island countries but what cannot be denied is that, the major driver for recent change in US orientation towards the region and the Summit is the geopolitics of the region. China factor, recently has dominated discussion about the South Pacific region. China now has diplomatic ties with ten out of fourteen islands in the region. Palau, Nauru, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands, are the only four countries that have maintained ties with Taiwan. Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr., during his recent visit to Taiwan on 6 October 2022, said that Palau is committed to supporting Taiwan despite the “mounting aggressions in our region”. [14]
The region is undergoing many significant geopolitical developments including the signing of Beijing’s first known bilateral security agreement in the Pacific with the Solomon Islands, followed by its attempt to sign a similar region-wide pact. The US and its regional partners strongly criticised the China-Solomon Islands Framework Agreement for Security Cooperation and have been vocal about Beijing’s coercive economic tactics. The region is also witnessing a deeper engagement from Australia and New Zealand. Given the current situation it is likely that region will be increasingly securitised in the coming time, with other players in an attempt to balance China, pursuing increasingly proactive stance in their foreign, security and military policies.
The Summit marks an important step for the US to enhance its engagement in the region especially given that China is advancing its diplomatic, economic and strategic presence in the region. From the point of view of the Pacific Islands, the Summit was a crucial development as Prime Minister of Fiji and the current Chair of PIF said that this is the largest gathering of leaders from our vast region in the American capital ever. “The fact that Pacific leaders will be sharing a room with the US President and the entire machinery of the US Government tells us how far we have come”.[15] Although the PICs welcome assistance and engagement from major powers, they would not want to be caught in a zero-sum game between China and the US. Therefore, it remains crucial to see how small island countries navigate through the changing geopolitical environment.
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*Dr. Pragya Pandey, Research Fellow, Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi.
Disclaimer: The views expressed are personal.
[1] U.S.-Pacific Island Country Summit, September 28-29, 2022 in Washington, D.C., https://www.state.gov/u-s-pacific-islands-country-summit/#:~:text=President%20Biden%20hosted%20the%20first,people%2Dto%2Dpeople%20ties., Accessed on 7 October 2022.
[2] Remarks by President Biden at the U.S.-Pacific Island Country Summit, September 29, 2022, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/09/29/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-u-s-pacific-island-country-summit/
[3] Remarks by President Biden at the U.S.-Pacific Island Country Summit, September 29, 2022, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/09/29/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-u-s-pacific-island-country-summit/
[4] FACT SHEET: President Biden Unveils First-Ever Pacific Partnership Strategy, The White House, September 29, 2022 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/29/fact-sheet-president-biden-unveils-first-ever-pacific-partnership-strategy/ , Accessed 7 0October 2022.
[5] Indo- Pacific Strategy of the United States, February 2022, chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/U.S.-Indo-Pacific-Strategy.pdf
[6] Quad Joint Leaders’ Statement, May 24, 2022, https://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/35357/Quad+Joint+Leaders+Statement
[7] Joint Statement by President Biden and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of Aotearoa New Zealand—A 21st-Century Partnership for the Pacific, the Indo-Pacific, and the World, May 31, 2022, https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/joint-statement-president-biden-and-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-aotearoa-new-zealand,
[8] Pacific Partnership Strategy of United States, The White House, September 2022, chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Pacific-Partnership-Strategy.pdf
[9] I.bid
[10]US announces $810 mn in new funding for Pacific Islands at summit, 29 September 2022, https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/us-announces-810-mn-in-new-funding-for-pacific-islands-at-summit/article65951569.ece
[11] Remarks by Vice President Harris at the Pacific Islands Forum, July 12, 2022, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/07/12/remarks-by-vice-president-harris-at-the-pacific-islands-forum, Accessed on July 30, 2022
[12] Remarks by President Biden at the U.S.-Pacific Island Country Summit, September 29, 2022, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/09/29/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-u-s-pacific-island-country-summit/
[13] Ibid
[14] Palau says committed to supporting Taiwan despite 'mounting aggressions, 6 October 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/palau-says-committed-supporting-taiwan-despite-mounting-aggressions-2022-10-06/?taid=633e59d34af84c000130d46f&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
[15] Prime Minister Hon. Voreqe Bainimarama’s Opening Remarks as the Chair of PIF at the Working Lunch – People Centered Development In The Pacific, Sep 28, 2022 , https://www.foreignaffairs.gov.fj/prime-minister-hon-voreqe-bainimaramas-opening-remarks-as-the-chair-of-pif-at-the-working-lunch-people-centered-development-in-the-pacific/