Biden ramps up aid in Pacific Islands summit
US President Joe Biden announced $810 million in new funding for Pacific Islands at a first-of-a-kind summit with their leaders in Washington, vowing a closer partnership with a strategic but sparsely populated region where China is making inroads.
Addressing leaders of South Pacific states including 12 heads of state or government, Biden said he wanted to show an "enduring commitment," adding, "The security of America, quite frankly, and the world depends on your security."
Alluding to China's rise in Asia, Biden said, "A great deal of the history of our world is going to be written in the Indo-Pacific over the coming years and decades, and the Pacific Islands are a critical voice in shaping that future."
The United States has been the key player in the South Pacific since its World War II victory. But with Washington often seen as taking the region for granted, China has asserted itself strongly through investment, police training and, most controversially, a security pact with the Solomon Islands.
Among US pledges at the summit was $20 million for the Solomon Islands to develop tourism. In contrast to China's hands-off mercantilism, the four-year US program will focus on empowering women and finding alternatives to logging.
The bulk of the new funding, at $600 million, will be in the form of a 10-year package across the South Pacific to clean up and develop dirty waters to support the tuna industry.
