Source: Reuters<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON, Sept 29 \u2013 U.S. President Joe Biden, his administration pledging to help Pacific Island leaders stave off what it calls China\u2019s \u201ceconomic coercion,\u201d promised them on Thursday to work harder with allies and partners to address their needs.<\/p>\n
Leaders and representatives from 14 Pacific Island states are taking part in a two-day summit ending on Thursday.<\/p>\n
It is the first time the United States has hosted so many leaders of a region it has considered a maritime backyard since World War Two, but into which China made steady advances.<\/p>\n
Biden said the United States had launched an initiative this year called Partners in the Blue Pacific \u201cto more effectively coordinate with our allies and partners around the world to better meet the needs of the people across the Pacific.\u201d<\/p>\n
He vowed to make a priority of strengthening the U.S. partnership with their countries and to help them address what he called the\u00a0\u201cexistential threat\u201d<\/em>\u00a0posed by the climate crisis.<\/p>\n \u201cThe security of America, quite frankly, and the world depends on your security and the security of the Pacific islands.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/a><\/span> Earlier, the United States released its first strategy for ties with Pacific island nations, noting that they faced urgent climate challenges and heightened geopolitical tensions.<\/p>\n \u201cIncreasingly, those impacts include pressure and economic coercion by the People\u2019s Republic of China, which risks undermining the peace, prosperity, and security of the region, and by extension, of the United States,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n China says its ties with Pacific island countries are based on mutual cooperation, that the region is not the backyard of any country, and that Washington\u2019s attempts to stir up opposition to China there will fail.<\/p>\n Some of the nations have complained about being caught in the middle of the superpowers\u2019 battle for influence.<\/p>\n Biden\u2019s administration has pledged \u201cbig-dollar\u201d assistance to address climate, health and maritime security issues, and to boost communications links with U.S. partners like Japan, Australia and India.<\/p>\n A senior administration official said the United States would invest more than $810 million in expanded programs to aid the islands, on top of over $1.5 billion provided in the past decade.<\/p>\n