A broad partnership agreement between the United States and 14 Pacific Island was signed on Thursday by the United States and 14 Pacific Island nations at a summit in Washington, putting climate change, economic growth and stronger security ties at the center of an American push to counter Chinese influence in the region. President Biden said at a meeting with island leaders that a great deal of history of our world is going to be written in the Indo-Pacific over the coming years and decades. The Pacific Islands are a key voice in shaping the future. The security of America and the world, he said, depends on your security and the security of the Pacific Islands. His comments, and his promise of more funding and cooperation from the United States, reflected a realization that China has made a lot of inroads in the island chains of the North and South Pacific, where thousands of Americans fought and died in World War II, and that America needs to catch up.
Much of the money would be for climate resilience and maritime security, including a $600 million request to Congress about a decades-old fisheries treaty that allows the United States to catch tuna in South Pacific waters. The package includes a number of interesting bonbons — a $20 million grant to the Solomon Islands for tourism development, $3.5 million for digital connectivity in the country and $2.8 million for F.B. The law enforcement training was led by the police. The law enforcement aid will now be distributed to six: the Solomons, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Federated States of Micronesia. Peace Corps volunteers will return to Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa and Tonga, while other countries are also being considered for the program. The White House said that the United States will begin talks with Fiji on a defense cooperation agreement and will soon begin with Papua New Guinea. Leaders from the region seemed to be pleased with the summit. For nearly a decade, Xi Jinping, China's leader, has been providing red carpet welcomes to Pacific leaders. Biden's charm offensive seemed to be more casual.