Washington does not intend to let Beijing place its pawns on the world chessboard without reacting. The United States announced on Friday, March 31, plans to open an embassy in Vanuatu, a small island state in the South Pacific, where China is trying to extend its influence.
This presence in the capital Port-Vila “would allow the United States to deepen their relations” in the archipelago and to accelerate its development aid, including on the climate issue, according to a statement from the US State Department, which does not specify an opening date.
The Biden administration, with bipartisan support in Congress, expanded the role of the United States in an area that had received little attention until then, after the surprise announcement in March 2022 of a security between the Solomon Islands and China. Despite the denials of the Solomon Islands, Western countries, first and foremost the United States and Australia, fear that this pact will allow Beijing to strengthen its presence in the Pacific.
Opening of other embassies
The United States reopened its embassy in the Solomon Islands in February, thirty years after it was closed. US Vice President Kamala Harris also announced at a summit last year that Washington would open new embassies in Kiribati and Tonga. An embassy in the Maldives is also planned.
With a population of just over 300,000 people, Vanuatu is ranked among the countries most at risk from natural disasters such as earthquakes, storms, floods and tsunamis, according to the annual Global Risk Report. .
And after a battle ” epic “ of this small state on the front line of the devastation linked to global warming, the United Nations General Assembly adopted, on Wednesday, a resolution calling on international justice to clarify the ” obligations “ States in the fight against climate change.