Prodded by China’s recent diplomatic moves, the Biden administration has stepped up U.S. engagement in the Pacific islands.
President Biden and Prime Minister Mark Brown of the Cook Islands at the White House on Sept. 25. That’s an awful lot of sudden diplomatic attention to a remote grouping of 14 sparsely populated island nations whose combined economies are aboutwith the Solomon Islands. The announcement of that accord blindsided the United States, as well as its two key allies in the region, Australia and New Zealand, who feared China might be about to establish a military base in the area.
Despite the United States offering some ritualistic, mostly rhetorical nods to the islands’ strategic importance and their historical resonance — the bloody battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands marked a major engagement for U.S. forces during World War II — administrations of both parties in recent decades have treated the islands mostly with indifference.last year, it was the first such high-level visit to that island nation in 36 years.
Predictably, China, through its state-controlled media outlets, has criticized the latest U.S. initiatives in the Pacific. “This is entirely an act of hegemonism,” the Communist Party-owned tabloid Global Times wrote in an unsignedBut the administration’s efforts in the Pacific are better late than not at all. The priorities seem right — infrastructure and combating the effects of climate change. A planned follow-up visit to the region next month by Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S.
The broader lesson should be that in the global competition with a more assertive China, neglect of any country or region is not an option. It’s a lesson that should be carried to Africa, South America and other too-often-ignored corners of the world.At Hi/Fi Tex-Mex BBQ, a meat master takes on his white whale: The smoker
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