US Vice President Kamala Harris made the announcement on Tuesday as Pacific leaders gathered in Suva, Fiji for the Pacific Islands Forum, the most important regional meeting. Harris will attend the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting to speak to the leaders at the invitation of the forum’s chairman and Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, in what is seen as a coup for the US and a blow to China, which is not believed to have had a similar privilege. During the speech, Harris will announce a series of measures designed to restore the US as a major partner in the region after decades of declining influence. The measures include appointing a special presidential envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum and tripling the amount of money requested by Congress for economic development and ocean resilience to $60 million a year for 10 years, as well as return of Peace Corps volunteers. to Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Vanuatu. “This milestone reflects the strong and growing commitment of the United States to the Pacific Islands region. It builds on five decades of close cooperation with the Pacific Islands Forum, including as a founding dialogue partner,” the statement said. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, in Suva ahead of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s arrival on Wednesday, said the US invitation was “a matter for the forum and the presidency” and that she was unaware of Chinese requests for similar engagement. “Fiji sets the agenda. Fiji and the secretary-general are looking at how the forum works,” he said. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern welcomed the US commitment, before adding the suggestion that the time had come. “They weren’t as present as maybe in the past,” Ardern said from Nasinu, near Suva, on Tuesday. “At the behest of many in the region, [the US] it now seeks to reengage, to push back against the expectations that already exist in the region. “There’s been a call for more engagement and you’re seeing the response to that.” Dr Anna Powles, senior lecturer in geopolitics and security studies at Massey University in New Zealand, said the announcement contained a number of “firsts”, including the first US envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum and the first US national strategy for the Pacific Islands, and it was an attempt by Washington to position itself as the Pacific partner of choice. But he said those moves were also Washington’s recognition that its engagement in the Pacific had been inconsistent, ad hoc and not very impactful in recent decades. “U.S. efforts to reset relations with the Pacific are driven by recognition that it has been absent from a region with which it has close ties through the Freely Associated States and deep interests such as fisheries, as well as strategic concerns about its role and influence of China in the Pacific”. Pauls said the fact that Harris had secured a place to speak to the leaders this week was “very important” but there were risks to the Pacific being at the center of geopolitical rivalry between the superpowers. “Pacific leaders are highly capable of exploiting the strategic concerns of external actors to secure opportunities and support, however, there is valid concern that strategic competition is disrupting and undermining regionalism and regional unity, whether through the increased pace of partners and projects . insufficient or no coordination or failure to align with Pacific priorities’.
