The Guardian-Pacific divided on Bidens charm offensive with calls for more results on the ground
September 27, 2023 4 min 784 words
美国总统乔·拜登最新试图争取太平洋国家的举措受到了该地区领导人和分析人士的广泛欢迎，但也有人呼吁在支持他们的经济方面采取更多行动，并寻求“实质性的成果”。拜登本周在华盛顿举行了一次太平洋国家领导人峰会，一年前曾举行类似会议，这一举措被广泛视为对抗中国在该地区不断增长的影响力的努力。 一些评论家指出，美国正试图“赶上其他国家”。斐济的前外交部长兼前驻布鲁塞尔大使卡利奥帕特·塔沃拉表示，美国选择在太平洋缺席数十年，之后才回归。但其回归显然受到了抵御中国的需要驱动。 拜登承诺与国会合作，为该地区的项目提供2亿美元的资金，旨在减轻气候变化影响，刺激经济增长，打击非法捕鱼，改善公共卫生。美国还表示将与库克群岛和纽埃两个太平洋岛国建立外交关系。 然而，有人对这些资金是否会得到兑现表示担忧，认为其仍然“依赖国会批准”。一些专家表示，虽然自去年峰会以来，美国在该地区开设了新的大使馆和美国国际开发署办事处，但国会尚未批准大部分2022年的资金承诺。 总的来说，拜登的举措是积极的，但太平洋地区需要更多实际成果，而不仅仅是承诺。与中国在该地区的影响力竞争也让局势复杂化，因此安全问题也是讨论的焦点。美国需要在太平洋国家提供全方位的支持，包括经济、贸易和商业领域，以建立更牢固的合作关系。在处理气候变化等问题上，美国必须兑现承诺，而不仅仅是空口说白话。总的来说，这一举措是一个积极的起点，但需要在未来继续努力以实现更大的影响力和合作。
US president Joe Biden’s latest bid to woo Pacific nations has been broadly welcomed by the region’s leaders and analysts, while some called for more to be done to support their economies and sought “results on the ground” over pledges.
Biden hosted a group of Pacific leaders at a summit in Washington this week, after a similar meeting a year earlier, in an effort widely seen as a push against China’s growing presence in the region.
Kaliopate Tavola, an ex-minister in Fiji and the country’s former ambassador to Brussels, said the US is “trying to catch up with others”.
“US chose to be absent from the Pacific for decades and it is coming back after that long absence. But its return is obviously fuelled by the need to counter China,” Tavola said.
The US president pledged to work with congress to provide $200m in funding for projects in the region aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change, spurring economic growth, countering illegal fishing and improving public health, according to a statement. The US also said it will open diplomatic ties with two more Pacific islands nations, the Cook Islands and Niue.
“The United States is committed to ensuring an Indo-Pacific region that is free, open, prosperous, and secure,” Biden said at the welcoming ceremony in Washington.
The US listed a long series of focus areas for “enhanced” Pacific engagement including trade ties and economic development, and tackling climate change.
“Much is promised. [We] need to see results on the ground,” Tavola said, in relation to a pledge to enhance “people-to-people” ties.
Security in focus
Ensuring security for the region was another element of the talks that comes as Washington and Beijing jostle for influence in the region.
In May, Papua New Guinea signed a defence and maritime cooperation agreement with the US. Papua New Guinea is the most populous Pacific island nation and its location just north of Australia makes it strategically significant. The US deal comes after China signed a security agreement with Solomon Islands in 2022. Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare, now closely aligned with Beijing, did not attend the White House talks this week.
Tavola said the “geopolitical tensions between the two world powers make the Pacific an unsafe space” for island nations in the region.
Papua New Guinea prime minister James Marape, called for the US to support the Pacific country beyond security deals. Marape said looking back from the first summit in 2022, Papua New Guinea came to the latest White House talks “from a much-improved relationship” with the US “but that is mostly from the security perspective, which we must step up on all other fronts.”
“The full strength of our relationship must also embody other development areas including commerce, trade and economics,” Marape said in a statement.
Palau president Surangel Whipps Jr described the summit as “remarkable” praising Biden for his leadership in bringing the Pacific leaders together to address shared challenges calling it “unprecedented.” In a statement from his office, Whipps said those challenges included rebuilding Pacific economies after Covid.
He said the summit was an “important gathering of family”.
Cook Islands prime minister Mark Brown also welcomed the elevation of US relations with his country and said the US-Pacific islands partnership could be an important tool for helping the region achieve its aspirations.
Concern over funding
Some in the Pacific also raised concern over whether the funds would be delivered.
“There are some very valuable initiatives in there … some long overdue,” Paul Barker, executive director at the Institute of National Affairs in Port Moresby, said.
Barker said the list included new and ongoing areas of engagement, while cautioning it remained “dependent on approval by Congress.”
Dr Meg Keen, director of Pacific Island Programs at Australia’s Lowy Institute, said that although the US had opened new embassies and a USAID office in the region since last year’s summit, Congress had yet to approve most of the funding pledges made in 2022.
Tavola said the US system that governs and allocates fund to the region “is not conducive to approving sufficient funds for the Pacific on a timely basis.”
“Much of the US’s promises can be slowed and snowed under by much bureaucracy,” he added.
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Rebecca Kuku is a reporter with The National, based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Reuters contributed to this report