Facing China, Joe Biden once again reaffirms the American presence in the Pacific. The American president announced Monday September 25 the official recognition as “Sovereign and independent states” of two territories, the Cook Islands and Niue, during the reception at the White House of numerous Pacific island leaders.
Mr. Biden took the opportunity to recall in a press release that the Cook Islands had “a long history of cooperation” with the United States. He also estimated that Niue (Nieue), this small territory also called “the rock of Polynesia”played “an important and constructive role” in the Pacific, particularly in the fight against climate change.
Niue, a tiny autonomous state, populated by only 1,700 inhabitants and in free association with New Zealand, has just launched an original initiative to protect its ecosystem: offering to sponsor, for 140 euros, the protection of one km² of the Pacific .
Concerning the Cook Islands, Joe Biden recalled in his press release that the United States had built airport runways there.
The official recognition of this archipelago of some 17,000 inhabitants should, according to the White House, make it possible in particular to better fight against illegal fishing, and also against climate change, two concerns common to many micro-states in the Pacific.
The epicenter of Sino-American competition
The recognition of these islands during the “United States Summit and the Pacific Islands Forum” comes in a context of strong rivalry between Beijing and Washington in the Pacific. “It is obvious that China plays a certain role in all of this, it is obvious that its ambitions and its influence in this region are a reason for us to continue our strategic offensive”said a senior White House official, who requested anonymity, during an interview with the press.
The American executive must announce during this summit, according to senior officials, a stronger diplomatic footprint, infrastructure projects, and strengthened maritime cooperation in the region.
China has also patiently woven its web in the region in recent years. This is the case, in particular, in the Fiji Islands (where Chinese President Xi Jinping visited in 2018), Vanuatu, the Samoa Islands and the Solomon Islands, which have integrated the “new Silk Roads”.
Thanks to this international investment program “behind which there is no geopolitical agenda”according to the formula dear to Chinese leaders, Beijing has built various infrastructures there, such as those which will house the Pacific Games planned for 2023 in the Solomon Islands.