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Pacific island leaders welcome US pledge to triple funding for region
US Vice President Kamala Harris, in a video address to the Pacific Islands Forum in Suva on Wednesday, said US funding for Pacific islands would be tripled to $60 million a year for a decade, subject to approval by Congress.
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Australian minister for foreign affairs Penny Wong (left) listens to US Vice-President Kamala Harris speaking via video-link to the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in Suva on July 13, 2022.
(AFP/William West)
P
acific island leaders welcomed a pledge by the United States to triple aid to the region to combat illegal fishing, enhance maritime security and tackle climate change, after decades of stagnant US funding.
US Vice President Kamala Harris, in a video address to the Pacific Islands Forum in Suva on Wednesday, said US funding for Pacific islands would be tripled to $60 million a year for a decade, subject to approval by Congress.
Some Pacific leaders are seeking to balance China's ambitions for trade and security ties in the region. The Solomon Islands has struck a security pact with China that has prompted concern from the United States and its allies.
Harris called for nations to "stand united" as bad actors seek to undermine the international rules-based order, without naming them.
"We recognise that in recent years that Pacific islands may not have received the diplomatic attention and support that you deserved," she said.
Pacific leaders gathering for the four-day forum see climate change as the region's major security issue, but tensions between China and the United States, and the surprise withdrawal of Kiribati from the forum, are also being discussed.
"It really shows the US are back and want to play an active role," said Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. after Harris's speech.
