Regional forum sees climate change as its major security issue, along with tensions between China and the US, and the surprise withdrawal of Kiribati from the forum
US Vice-President Kamala Harris on a video screen during the Pacific Islands Forum at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva, Fiji, on July 13 2022. Picture: REUTERS/KIRSTY NEEDHAMPacific island leaders welcomed a pledge by the US to triple aid to the region to combat illegal fishing, enhance maritime security and tackle climate change, after decades of stagnant funding.
Harris called for nations to “stand united” as bad actors seek to undermine the international rules-based order, without identifying them. “It really shows the US is back and want to play an active role,” Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr said after Harris’s speech.The forum will discuss a bid by China to sign a trade and security agreement with 10 nations with ties to it, that is opposed by some members.
The US is concluding negotiations on a renewed fishing treaty with Pacific island nations that has allowed US vessels to fish in exclusive economic zones for decades, and is offering greater support for maritime surveillance in the Pacific. “We very much welcome the Biden administration’s increased presence in the region,” he said, adding strategic competition was a backdrop to the conference.
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