FROM THE PUBLISHER ’ S DESK
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Pampered with attention
Picked apart by China and heavily courted by the United States , the Pacific island region has become the superpowers ' battleground for dominance .
After experiencing long years of attention drought , the region — alternately nicknamed “ Oceania ” or “ Blue Pacific ” where the turquoise waters beckon the Trojan horse-bearing Communist China — is now being profusely showered with love by Washington .
In the past three years , high-ranking Washington officials have been jet-setting to the region , promising that the U . S . would never take it for granted ever again .
Backed by Australia , New Zealand and the UK , the U . S . has amplified its campaign to engage the region , announcing plans to beef up diplomatic ties with island states by opening more embassies , reinstating the Peace Corps Mission and extending more assistance packages .
During the two-day U . S . -Pacific Islands Country Summit at the White House , Pacific island nations gave their nod to the text of a joint declaration of partnership with the United States presented by U . S . Secretary of State Antony Blinken .
Blinken said the U . S . is committed to working closely with the leaders of the 12 Pacific island nations in attendance on issues including climate change , fisheries and maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region .
Clearly , China ’ s emergence as a force to be reckoned with has presented many island nations with economic options and new geopolitical leverage . But being pampered with suffocating attention from multiple fronts , the Pacific island nations get the hint that their sovereignty is at stake .
At the conclusion of the 12th Pacific
Guam is slowly breaking out of the bubble , seeing the need to join hands with Pacific communities amid the region ’ s emergence as the most sought-after continent .
Islands Conference of Leaders meeting in August , island states agreed to stand as a unified bloc to deal with regional issues collectively and guard their turf .
But what are they , really ? “ Partners or pawns ?” experts on Pacific island affairs asked .
“ While welcoming the initiative , island leaders may be skeptical of the claimed ‘ deep and enduring partnership ,’ and suggested that the U . S . is itself a ‘ proud Pacific nation ,’” authors Terence Wesley-Smith and Gerard Finin , wrote in an article on Devpolicy Blog , a website owned by the Development Policy Center at The Australian National University .
“ U . S . policy toward Oceania has always been driven by strategic interests , and Washington has long focused its resources on the strategically located American-affiliated islands and relied on allies to sustain Western interests elsewhere in this vast region ,” they added .
Guam hardly engages in the advocacies of neighboring islands . As a U . S . territory under federal foreign affairs jurisdiction , Guam has limited opportunities for membership in regional groupings .
The U . S . is Guam ’ s only option and the source of its military industry . The island is home to the U . S . defense post in this part of the world .
Local leaders invoke the island ’ s strategic value as leverage to , quoting
Gov . Lou Leon Guerrero , “ milk the feds .” She recommended the same strategy for the Federated States of Micronesia when the nation finally got hit with a Covid-19 outbreak after two years of being coronavirus-free . Ask the U . S . for more money , the governor advised President David Panuelo .
Nevertheless , Guam is slowly breaking out of the bubble , seeing the need to join hands with Pacific communities amid the region ’ s emergence as the most sought-after continent . Guam has signed onto the Pacific Islands Forum ’ s 2050 Strategy for the Blue Continent .
Most of the Pacific island states have adopted the “ friend to all , enemy to none ” foreign policy , opting to be more programmatic and neutral on geopolitics .
“ A fundamental problem in the U . S . -Pacific dialogue is that island leaders do not regard China as a threat to their security and do not find U . S . references to ‘ rules-based order ’ or ‘ bad actors ’ particularly relevant ,” Wesley-Smith and Finin wrote .
“ Washington objects to China ’ s militarization , but from a Pacific perspective it is the Pentagon upping the ante in Oceania , through the AUKUS agreement expanding Australia ’ s naval capacity to engage with China , increasing military activity in Guam , the FSM and Palau , as well as support for the Manus naval facility in Papua New Guinea ,” they added .
In the end , Pacific island leaders have made it known that their allegiance is not for sale , as they prefer to be engaged on their own terms “ rather than as part of a wider endeavor to counter China .”
Publisher / Editor-in-Chief Mar-Vic Cagurangan publisher @ pacificislandtimes . com
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