Prasannkumar 
At a summit with President Joe Biden, the United States announced $810 Million in new funding for Pacific Islands.
As China continues to push for the strategically important but sparsely populated Pacific Islands, the United States announced Thursday $810 million in additional funding.
According to the White House, $600 million will come in the form of a 10-year program to clean up and develop polluted waters to support the tuna sector. The United States will also increase its climate and development assistance and diplomatic presence.
Biden will speak at the Washington Summit of Pacific Island Nations on Thursday, where 12 heads of government or state are expected to participate. He hopes to use a personal touch in reestablishing relations with the region, which has been closely tied to the United States ever since World War II.
The United States has been seen as taking the region for granted until now. China has made a strong claim to its territory in recent years through investments, police training, and most controversially, a security agreement with the Solomon Islands.
Biden’s administration announced that the United States would recognize Cook Islands, Niue and Niue as self-governing territories whose currency and foreign policies are closely linked to New Zealand.
This will allow the United States of America to expand its diplomatic presence in Cook Island and Niue. These islands, home to less than 20,000 people, are a vast economic zone in South Pacific.
Biden launched a new strategy of engagement and also named Frankie Reed, a former US ambassador to the region, as the US’s first-ever envoy for the Pacific Islands Forum.
The United States had earlier announced that it would restore an embassy to the Solomon Islands amid heavy Chinese presence. On Thursday, the White House stated that US embassies will also be open in Tonga, Kiribati, and Tonga.
According to the White House, the US Agency for International Development will establish a Pacific regional mission in Fiji by September 20,23. Peace Corps volunteers will also return to Fiji and Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu, and possibly the Solomon Islands.
The Biden administration has recently created the Partners in the Blue Pacific alliance with Australia, New Zealand, and Japan in keeping with its focus on allies.
According to the White House, Canada and Germany will be joining and France — which is itself a South Pacific power – would join as non-members.
Many Pacific leaders welcome US engagement. However, Manasseh Sogavare, the Solomon Islands Prime Minister, has warned against competition between major powers and said to the United Nations last week that he was being “vilified for signing a security pact” with China.
Sogavare spoke to AFP and said that Washington negotiations had addressed his concerns in a “positive way” before the expected unveiling of a partnership declaration.
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