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World

Biden hosts first ever US-Pacific Island Country Summit in Washington

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CNN
 — 

President Joe Biden is hosting the first ever US-Pacific Island Country Summit this week, a multi-day event in Washington focused on cooperation with the United States’ countries in the Pacific region.

Biden’s effort to strengthen ties with the nations by having the summit comes amid the US’ increased focus on countering China’s global influence, and the gathering has already challenged American efforts to engage in strategic partnerships in the region.

In remarks on Thursday at the State Department with the Pacific leaders, Biden said, “A great deal of the history of our world is going to be written in the Indo-Pacific over the coming years and decades. And the Pacific islands are a critical voice in shaping that future. And that’s why my administration has made it a priority to strengthen our partnership with your countries.”

Later Thursday, Biden will host the Pacific leaders for dinner at the White House and participate in an official family photo. A senior administration official told foreign pool reporters who cover the White House that the leaders will also on Thursday meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress, as well as business groups at the US Chamber of Commerce.

The summit kicked off on Wednesday when Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed leaders at the State Department and took part in events with several senior administration officials, including Secretary of State Gina Raimondo and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry.

While other presidents in the past have held summits with Pacific nations and the US, all Pacific Island countries have been invited to Washington for Biden’s summit. Leaders or representatives will be present from the Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Nauru and Vanuatu. Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General are attending as observers.

On Wednesday, amid a broad set of announcements about new commitments to the Pacific region, the White House said that “the United States has directly provided over $1.5 billion to support the Pacific Islands over the past decade and today has announced over $810 million in additional expanded programs.” The US will also recognize the Cook Islands and Niue.

The White House unveiled a nine-point declaration outlining the commitments, which focus on: supporting the US-Pacific partnership, building American capacity in the region, coordinating with allies and partners, climate, the economy, security and maritime cooperation, cyber security and connectivity, Covid-19 and health security and addressing war legacies.

The administration released a US-Pacific Island Strategy for the first time on Wednesday – a plan meant to compliment the earlier release of the Indo-Pacific strategy.

Notably, the strategy includes efforts to expand US diplomatic missions in the Pacific and commits to deploying additional personnel across the region. The strategy would also establish the first US envoy to the Pacific Island Forum and make several climate commitments, increasing the presence of Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Department of Defense in the area.

“The purpose of this document is to make it obviously consistent with the goals and objectives of our larger framing. But this is specifically aimed at the concerns and the objectives in the Pacific as a whole,” a senior administration official previewing the summit said.

That official said that the summit is meant to address the most “daunting challenges of the Pacific” including on climate change, health concerns, education training, jobs, challenges associated with recovery from Covid-19 and overfishing. The White House has worked closely in the last months with Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Great Britain and others on these issues, the official added.

The Marshall Islands earlier this month suspended talks to renew its security partnership with the US, citing the longstanding impact of US nuclear testing in the area some 70 years ago.

The declaration unveiled on Thursday indicates that the US is “exploring (unexploded ordnance) assistance options for Kiribati and the Marshall Islands in late 2022 and maintains a Quick Reaction Force to support (unexploded ordnance) engagements across the Pacific at the request of host nation partners.”

China has been expanding its ties to countries in the Pacific Ocean in recent years, and Beijing signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands in April, promising cooperation in trade and education.

Nations including the US and Australia expressed concerns following the announcement, and the Chinese government has denied that the country will set up a military base on the Solomon Islands.

Despite earlier reports suggesting the Solomon Islands would not sign onto the declaration, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that the leaders involved in the summit have come “come together around a declaration of partnership between the US and the Pacific, one that shows that we have a shared vision for the future and a determination to build that future together.”

“So I’m very pleased that we have this today, that we’ve agreed on it, and it will give us a road map for the work that we’re doing in the future,” he added.

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World

Solomon Islands suspends all naval visits: US embassy | Military News

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Move comes a week after a US Coast Guard vessel was blocked from refuelling in the Solomons capital of Honiara. 

The Solomon Islands has told the United States it is suspending all navy ships from entering its ports.

In a statement on Tuesday, the US embassy in the Australian capital, Canberra, said it has “received formal notification from the Government of Solomon Islands regarding a moratorium on all naval visits, pending updates in protocol procedures”.

There was no immediate comment from the government of the Solomons.

The move came a week after a US Coast Guard vessel was blocked from refuelling in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands.

The USCGC Oliver Henry was on patrol for illegal fishing in the South Pacific for a regional fisheries agency when it failed to obtain entry to refuel at Honiara, the US Coast Guard said. The vessel was instead diverted to Papua New Guinea.

The British Royal Navy did not comment directly on reports that the HMS Spey, also taking part in Operation Island Chief, was also denied a port call in the Solomon Islands.

“Ships’ programs are under constant review, and it is routine practice for them to change,” the Royal Navy said in a statement. “For reasons of operational security we do not discuss details. The Royal Navy looks forward to visiting the Solomon Islands at a later date.”

During Operation Island Chief, the US, Australia, Britain and New Zealand provided support through aerial and surface surveillance for Pacific island nations participating in the operation, including the Solomon Islands.

The Solomon Islands has had a tense relationship with Washington and its allies since striking a security pact with China in May.

Both the Solomon Islands and China have denied their pact will lead to a Chinese military foothold in the South Pacific, although a leaked draft of the agreement showed the security agreement would allow the Chinese navy to dock and replenish.

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Riot-hit Solomons begins clean-up as more foreign troops arrive | Politics News

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The prime minister of the riot-hit Solomon Islands vowed on Sunday to defy pressure to resign, saying violence that swept the capital had been orchestrated by a few people with “evil intention” to topple him.

“It is very clear that the recent events were well planned and orchestrated to remove me as the prime minister for unsubstantiated reasons,” Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said in an address broadcast to the Pacific island nation.

“I want to show the nation that the government is fully intent and nothing will move us. We must and will never bow down to the evil intention of a few people,” Sogavare said.

Sogavare previously blamed the three days of violence — during which rioters incinerated swathes of the capital Honiara before the unrest died down at the weekend — on an unscrupulous few leading others astray with false information.

“We must stand up to intimidation, bullying and violence. We owe this to our children and the majority of our people who cannot defend themselves,” he said.

Sogavare said the violence, centred on the capital’s Chinatown, had caused 200 million Solomon Islander dollars ($25m) in damage and destroyed 1,000 jobs in an economy already squeezed by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

‘Environment still unknown’

Clean-up operations started in the capital as soldiers and police from Australia and Papua New Guinea helped to restore calm after several days of deadly riots.

Residents of Honiara cleared shattered glass, rubble and rubbish from the streets as heavy machinery in the hard-hit district of Chinatown moved rubble from burned-out shops.

Mounds of rubbish still lined the streets in the district, a reminder of looting and rioting that broke out following protests over poverty, hunger and Sogavare’s policies.

“The situation has calmed down and people are moving about as normal but the environment is still unknown in terms of what may happen,” Red Cross official Kennedy Waitara told the AFP news agency.

Waitara said many food shops had been burned down in the riots.

“It will not be surprising if we have to experience food shortages and a hike in prices,” he said.

“Unemployment will certainly increase in the coming weeks as people will certainly be out of jobs now and will be finding it difficult.”

The riots broke out on Wednesday after protesters attempted to storm the Pacific island nation’s parliament, prompting the police to fire tear gas. Demonstrators then set fire to buildings, including a police station and shops.

Sogavare declared a 36-hour curfew in Honiara and asked for help from his country’s neighbours. Australia and Papua New Guinea sent 150 peacekeepers on Thursday and Friday, helping to quell the unrest in the nation of 800,000 people.

Police arrested more than 100 people and on Friday reported the first deaths from the rioting. They said the charred remains of three people had been found in a burned-out shop in Chinatown and that a forensic team was working to identify the bodies.

Despite the uneasy calm, many people in the capital were too nervous to even attend church services, said Nason Ta’ake, a youth leader at the Wesley United Church in Honiara.

“There are only a few people attending church services as most are still living in fear,” Ta’ake told AFP.

After leaving church, parishioners began scouring shops for food and essential goods but very few were open, he said.

An early estimate of the cost of the rioting, released this weekend by the Central Bank of the Solomon Islands, said 56 buildings in the capital had been burned and looted, with many businesses facing a recovery of more than a year.

The loss to the economy was expected to be at least $28m, with the bank’s governor warning that the nation’s accounts – already struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic – had been further weakened by the riots.

In neighbouring Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said more Australian Federal Police would arrive in the Solomon Islands on Sunday, and added that he expected Fiji to also contribute troops.

“Although things are very unstable at this point … plans, we know, are being made, to ensure there can be calm,” he said.

The Australian leader said it was up to the Solomon Islands to resolve the crisis.

“It is not for us to be interfering in their democracy. It is not for us to be interfering in how they resolve those issues,” Morrison said, stating that Australian forces aimed only to provide a safe environment for this to happen.

Many Solomon Islanders believe their government is corrupt and beholden to Beijing and other foreign interests.

Opposition leaders on Saturday called for a vote of no confidence in Sogavare.

They may not yet have enough votes to pass the motion and remove him from office, but the move could create another flashpoint.

The pro-Beijing leader claimed foreign powers opposed to his 2019 decision to switch the Solomons’ diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China were behind the disturbances.

But others pointed to inter-island tensions and widespread joblessness among the country’s population – 40 percent of whom are under 14 years of age.

China’s government on Friday condemned the violence and vowed to “safeguard the safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and institutions”.



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