President Joe Biden met Pacific island leaders for a second White House summit in just over a year on Monday, part of a charm offensive aimed at curbing further inroads by China into a strategic region Washington has long considered its own backyard.
Before welcoming the island leaders, gathered under the umbrella of the 18-nation Pacific Islands Forum , Biden announced U.S."The United States is committed to ensuring an Indo-Pacific region that is free, open, prosperous, and secure. We’re committed to working with all the nations around this table to achieve that goal," Biden said at the welcoming ceremony.
A joint statement said the sides agreed to hold another summit in 2025 and political engagements every two years thereafter. Biden said recognizing the Cook Islands and Niue as sovereign and independent states would "enable us to expand the scope of this enduring partnership as we seek to tackle the challenges that matter most to our peoples' lives."
They also attended Sunday's National Football League game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Indianapolis Colts. Dozens of NFL players are of Pacific Islander heritage.Representatives of all 18 PIF members attended the summit, but not all at leader level. The White House in 2022 said the U.S. would invest more than $810 million in expanded programs to aid the Pacific islands.
The U.S. is still negotiating to open an embassy in Vanuatu, but has not significantly increased engagement with that nation, which counts China as its largest external creditor. China signed a policing agreement with Vanuatu last month.
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