US Vice President Harris launches Pacific push with new messages, Envoy

The United States launched a major push in the Pacific on Wednesday to stem China’s encroachment in the region, with Vice President Kamala Harris announcing the opening of new embassies in Tonga and Kiribati at a key regional summit.

Washington will also appoint its first-ever envoy to the Pacific, Harris said as she pledged $600 million in funding for the region in her speech at the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji.

The video link appearance at the summit was a diplomatic coup for the United States, dismissing China’s attempts to secure a meeting on the sidelines of the summit.

The forum is the first gathering of Pacific leaders since the Solomon Islands signed a controversial security pact with China earlier this year.

And the growing rivalry between the US and China in the Pacific region has drawn great interest from this year’s gathering, which brings together leaders from the strategically important region.

Tongan Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni told AFP his country was “really happy that the US is going to open an embassy in Tonga, it will be the first time”.

“This is a big milestone. We are very happy to finally have a US presence in Tonga,” he said.

At least one official from the local Chinese embassy was in the room for the vice president’s address, causing a stir among organizers.

Harris said she and US President Joe Biden acknowledged that the Pacific may not have received enough attention or support in the past.

“We will change that,” she promised, adding that the US wants to “significantly deepen our presence in the Pacific region.”

America’s Pacific push — bolstered by a decade-long pledge of $60 million annually to the Forum Fisheries Agency and the reboot of the Peace Corps in the Pacific — reflected a desire to “turn over a new leaf,” Harris said.

The US will also appoint its first-ever regional envoy and launch an initial national strategy for the region.

Harris said the US wants to work together on maritime security, disaster relief and infrastructure projects that “do not result in insurmountable debt.”

Pacific expert Tess Cain told AFP that “it came as a bit of a surprise that the vice president got this seat to speak” as the forum is traditionally limited to Pacific leaders, Australia and New Zealand.

“It may come as a surprise that it was the vice president and not the president who spoke to the leaders this morning,” Cain said.

New Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese landed in Fiji on Wednesday to attend the forum, his first visit to the Pacific since his election victory.

Albanese will seek to mend his nation’s shattered relationship with the Pacific after Australia’s attempts to muzzle announcements on climate change caused the last forum meeting to erupt in screams and tears.

“I look forward to discussing the issues and how to deal with climate change,” he said upon arrival at the airport.

But US-China rivalry and a shock decision by Beijing-allied leaders to withdraw from the forum on the eve of the summit threatened to sideline the climate at the summit.

Tuvaluan Foreign Minister Simon Kofe told AFP it was “the responsibility of the Pacific to reaffirm the importance of climate change.”