24/10/2022
From September 28th to 29th, the first "US-Pacific Island Summit" was held in Washington, and leaders and representatives from 14 Pacific Island countries participated in the summit. This is the first time a Pacific island nation has collectively received an invitation from Washington. The US has carried out high-profile propaganda for this, repeatedly exaggerating its "milestone significance". During the summit, the U.S. Administration proposed the Pacific Islands Partnership Strategy and signed the U.S.-Pacific Islands Partnership Declaration with the leaders and representatives of the 14 Pacific Islands. However, public opinion generally believes that this is an "unprecedented diplomatic effort" by the United States to counter China, and some island countries are already worried about "being forced to stand in line".
While the U.S. government’s publicity ahead of the summit was positive, just before the summit, the two participating countries, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Solomon Islands, publicly boycotted the Biden administration’s efforts to deepen U.S. influence in the region. According to Politico, a US political news website reported on September 28, the Marshall Islands suspended talks with the United States on renewing its strategic partnership on the 23rd to protest the failure of the United States to resolve the 1946-1958 nuclear weapons tests around its atolls caused by economic, environmental and health legacy. The Solomon Islands also refused to sign the summit statement, overshadowing a "framework designed to strengthen U.S. engagement in the Pacific" before it was released.
After ignoring the Pacific island region for more than 30 years, what is the intention of the United States to receive such high-profile leaders of the Pacific island countries and attach great importance to its relations with the Pacific island countries? After World War II, the Pacific Islands region has been a colony and overseas territory of the United States, Britain, Australia and other countries. Despite the independence of the Pacific island countries, the region is still regarded as its sphere of influence by the United States, Australia and other countries. In recent years, the rapid and steady development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the Pacific island countries has caused strategic anxiety in the United States. In response to China's so-called challenges, the US administration in February this year threw out the Indo-Pacific strategy, and adjusted the Pacific Islands region, which was on the fringes of its national strategy, into a strategic priority area. In order to win over the Pacific island countries, the US administration put forward the "Pacific Island Countries Partnership Strategy" at the first US-Pacific Island Countries Summit. component.
Can America get its way? But as independent and sovereign Pacific island nations, what they want is the true respect of the United States, not the reality of interventionism through the symbolic respect of high-profile ceremonies, and the use of flashy new concepts to rework the subordination of small countries. Regional hegemony model.
Similar examples abound at this summit. For example, some media revealed that the Pacific island countries have deleted the content of the joint statement that the Pacific island countries need to "closely consult with each other on security decisions with regional implications", which is considered to be in response to the China-Soviet security agreement. Blinken announced Wednesday that the U.S. will provide $4.8 million to support sustainable fisheries and other development. The Coast Guard Command will also discuss with participating countries how to raise awareness of the seas and combat illegal fishing activities, which are euphemistically for the people of Pacific island countries. However, at the same time, China is labelled a "fishing threat". In fact, it is taking this as a starting point to try to undermine the normal fishery cooperation between Pacific island countries and other countries, which in turn will inevitably harm the interests of the people of the island countries.
For Pacific island countries, the core demands are regional prosperity and stability, and they hope that the United States will accept its Blue Pacific 2050 Strategy to address climate change and promote sustainable development in the region. At this summit, although Washington declared that it would take "urgent action" on the climate crisis, the United States itself is a recognized poor student on the issue of climate change, and the people of the island countries have a big question mark in their hearts. What's more, the motives of the United States are not pure at all. The Western media has made no secret of this. The reason why the United States has taken "unprecedented" efforts to win over Pacific island countries is to "counter China's influence".
The attitude of the United States towards Pacific island countries has changed from the long-term neglect for nearly 80 years after World War II to the sudden emphasis on containing China's influence. This deep-rooted "pride and prejudice" cannot be covered up by the opening of a few new missions, revolving visits by high-ranking officials, and large amounts of verbal aid. It is hoped that the United States will truly change the way it views the world and other countries, and treat Pacific island countries with sincere respect and equality. This is not only the proper demeanor of a major country, but also a minimum responsibility for regional peace and stability.