US to invest $US860m in Pacific Islands

WASHINGTON: The United States said at a summit with Pacific Island leaders yesterday it had agreed on a future partnership with them, and held out the prospect of ‘‘big dollar numbers’’ help to a region where it hopes to stem China’s expanding influence.

The Washington Post quoted US officials who said the Biden administration was set to announce at the twoday summit it would invest more than $US860 million ($NZ1500 million) in expanded programmes to aid the Islands, on top of more than $1.5 billion provided in the past decade.

The White House had no immediate comment on the funding figure, but a US official said the newspaper’s reporting that all the visiting leaders had endorsed an 11point statement of vision committing to joint endeavours was accurate.

The visiting leaders included Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, whose government had earlier indicated it would not sign the declaration — raising further concerns about his ties to China.

An official who briefed journalists ahead of the meeting acknowledged Washington had not paid the Pacific enough attention, and would come up with new initiatives with ‘‘bigdollar numbers’’.

It was the first time the US had been host to so many leaders of a region it had considered its maritime backyard since World War 2, but into which China had been making steady advances.

Some of the nations have complained about being caught in the middle of the superpowers’ battle for influence.

Leaders and representatives from 14 Pacific Island states were taking part in the summit.

White House IndoPacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said last week the summit would focus on issues such as climate change and health.

Washington and its allies want to boost maritime security and island states’ communication links with countries such as Japan, Australia and India, he said.

Leaders from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tuvalu, Tonga, Fiji, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and New Caledonia had attended the summit as well as representatives from Vanuatu, Nauru and Palau.