The U.S. in the Pacific: Delivering on Commitments or Déjà Vu?
.By Anna Powles & Joanne WallisJuly 15, 2022
Industry and defence must gear up to deter China’s military build-up, says Marles
On 13 July, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the 51st Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting by video link. Harris’s speech was unexpected and unprecedented, since the U.S. is a forum dialogue partner rather than a member. Pacific leaders had opted this year not to hold the traditional post-forum partners’ dialogue, at which partner states (including the U.S. and China) meet with forum leaders after their leaders’ meeting. Pacific leaders wanted to ensure that there was ‘space’ to resolve issues and determine priorities without having to manage the demands and expectations of external partners.
The decision not to hold the post-forum dialogue was in part due to Pacific leaders’ frustration about strategic competition overshadowing and undermining Pacific priorities and agendas. Last month it emerged that China had invited the 10 Pacific island states it has diplomatic relations with to a virtual meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi on 14 July, coinciding with the leaders’ retreat.
By having Harris deliver her speech at the forum, the U.S. disturbed the equilibrium that Pacific leaders had achieved on geopolitical matters. But for at least some Pacific leaders, that disturbance was convenient: it sent a pointed message both to China and to those Pacific countries that have recently moved closer to it.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2022/07/15/the_us_in_the_pacific_delivering_on_commitments_or_deja_vu_842701.html
