Balancing diplomacy

WITH the new US President, I am sure he wants to reassert US dominance in the global economy on issues like climate change, geopolitical interest and others. I believe China wants to recalibrate itself with frosted relationship but faces strategic competition from the US and its allies.

We must continue to engage and take necessary steps to see that we harness the relationship during these pandemic times because it is also going to hugely benefit our communities. It is very important that we continue to balance our actions with that of a particular state or group of states in order to equalise the odds against more powerful states.

USA, Australia, India and Japan through the joint commitment have agreed to deliver doses of coronavirus vaccine to the Asia and Pacific region in the years to come as we are going to directly benefit from this.

These nations have also been strong critics of the Chinese government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The countries are often regarded as a counterweight to China’s growing assertiveness in the Pacific. Is it to debilitate the Chinese influence in the Pacific?

Although we may be a small player in the international scene, but collectively, our decision does matter. Whatever happens, we want all to be on the same page as all our development partners and expect positive outcomes for our Pacific and Fiji.

PRANIL RAM

Votualevu, Nadi