US President Joe Biden and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern shared concerns last week about China’s bid to expand its influence in the Pacific.
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President Joe Biden’s special envoy for talks with three small but strategically important Pacific island nations will be Marshall next week amid growing US concerns over China’s efforts to expand China’s influence in the region. Will lead a delegation to the islands.
Veteran diplomat Joseph Yun, appointed by Biden in March, told Reuters that he and his team would be in the Marshall Islands from June 14th to 16th.
A spokesman for the US State Department said Yun would discuss the Compact of Free Association (COFA), which governs US financial support for the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), which will expire next year.
The United States has similar agreements with the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and Palau, which expire in 2023 and 2024, respectively, and Yun is also responsible for these negotiations.
A State Department spokesman said, “We welcome the opportunity to meet directly with the RMI negotiation team and look forward to productive discussions.”
The Pacific Islands have emerged as an important frontline of Washington’s strategic competition with China, which is stepping up its diplomatic efforts to attract countries in the region.
Biden and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said last week that they shared concerns about China’s bid to expand its influence in the Pacific and that U.S. officials had discussed the need for direct involvement with Pacific Islands leaders. ..
They also expressed concern about the recent security agreement between China and the Solomon Islands.
Last week, a virtual meeting of 10 Pacific Foreign Ministers hosted by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Fiji agreed to postpone considering China’s proposal for a drastic trade and security agreement.
Samoa leaders then said the agreement needed to be discussed at a regional meeting before making a decision.
Negotiations to renew the US COFA agreement with the Marshall Islands, FSM and Palau began during the Trump administration, but declined before Yun’s appointment and Washington could lose its influence battle with Beijing. Raised concern that there is.
Key issues in the Marshall Islands include rewards for the legacy of large-scale US nuclear tests there, the existence of US military bases, and mitigation of climate change.
According to sources familiar with the plan, the talks will take place at the U.S. Army camp at Kwajalein Atoll, where the U.S.’s important missile test facility is located, and Yun’s appointment will involve the Biden administration’s involvement with the Pacific island nations. It shows that it has given great momentum. ..
Prime Minister Yun had already held talks and virtual discussions with the leaders of the three countries and had virtual negotiations with the FSM negotiation team, but the trip to the Marshall Islands will be the first face-to-face negotiation because most of the trip has been stalled. December 2020.
The King’s recent visit to the area has created a sense of urgency among US officials, sources said.
“I think we’ve got more attention from those who aren’t very involved,” he said, adding that Pentagon officials are more involved in the COFA process.
The United States conducted 67 nuclear tests on the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958, and as a result, the islanders still suffer from health and environmental implications.
The tests included the “Castle Bravo” at Bikini Atoll in 1954. This is the largest bomb ever tested in the United States, 1,000 times more powerful than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945.
