China News Service, September 27 (Reporter Meng Xiangjun) Recently, during the 77th United Nations General Assembly, US Secretary of State Blinken hosted the first foreign ministers' meeting of the "Blue Pacific Partnership" (PBP), which attracted attention.

　　After the meeting, Campbell, coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs at the White House National Security Council, said that China's "ambition" in the Pacific region has caused "concerns" among leaders of Pacific island countries.

Secretary of State Blinken.

　　What is the "Blue Pacific Partnership"?

Why do White House officials get involved with China?

What is the historical latitude and longitude of the development and changes of Pacific island countries?

【Desperate for decades, suddenly pay attention】

　　It all started with Blinken's trip to Fiji in February.

Blinken, the first U.S. secretary to visit Fiji since 1985, held a video conference with the heads of 17 Pacific nations to announce that the U.S. would reopen its embassy in the Solomon Islands.

　　You know, as early as the 1990s, when there was civil unrest in the Solomon Islands, the Americans closed and left.

And this closure is 29 years.

This can only show that Pacific island countries like the Solomon Islands have long been forgotten by the United States...

US Secretary of State Blinken presided over the "Blue Pacific Partnership" foreign ministers' meeting.

Image source: Screenshot of the official website of the US State Department

　　After the Biden administration took office, the United States vigorously pursued the Indo-Pacific strategy, from the US-UK-Australia Tripartite Security Partnership (AUKUS) to the US-Japan-India-Australia Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD), and then to the new economic circle conception "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework" (IPEF) , increasingly extending its "long arm" to the Asia-Pacific region.

　　In June, the United States joined Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and the five countries formed a "small circle" - the "Blue Pacific Partnership" organization.

Canada, India, South Korea, Germany... more countries are also interested in "joining in".

[Eager to show a sense of existence, make intensive moves]

　　The US official stated that the purpose of the "Blue Pacific Partnership" is to support "Pacific regionalism" and strengthen cooperation with Pacific island countries in the fields of climate change, maritime security and health.

　　But Campbell pointed out at the beginning of the organization that the United States is looking at the "important strategic significance" of the Pacific region and aims to "counter China's influence in this region."

　　In September 2019, China and the Solomon Islands established diplomatic relations, and in April 2022, the two sides signed a framework agreement on security cooperation.

The development of relations between China and the Pacific island countries is normal in terms of geographical proximity and South-South cooperation, but the United States on the other side of the ocean has a sense of crisis.

　　In order to strengthen its influence on Pacific island countries, senior US officials have been dispatched intensively.

　　In April, Campbell, the coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs at the White House National Security Council, led a delegation to visit the Solomon Islands.

　　In July, US Vice President Harris attended the Pacific Islands Forum, announced the establishment of two new embassies, and promised to provide local aid funds of 60 million US dollars each year for 10 consecutive years.

　　In August, U.S. Secretary of State Sherman and U.S. Ambassador to Australia Kennedy attended the World War II commemorative ceremony held in the Solomon Islands, and paved the way for the "U.S.-Pacific Islands Summit" to be held at the White House at the end of September.

Sherman said U.S. President Joe Biden made a "strong relationship" with Pacific island nations a "priority."

"Blue Pacific Partnership" (PBP) organization purpose and member flags.

Image source: The official website of the U.S. State Department

　　80 years ago, the United States and other international allied forces fought a seven-month-long sea, land and air battle on Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands, and their opponents are now the "Blue Pacific Partnership". One member - Japan.

　　As one of the bloodiest battles in military textbooks, the "Battle of Guadalcan" is seen as the beginning of Japan's defeat in World War II.

Foreign media found that the fathers of Sherman and Kennedy participated in the war that year, and believed that the two went there with the intention of "persuading" the Solomon Islands to turn to the United States with historical connections.

【America is good at forgetting the past hurts】

　　In the late 1980s, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, and the United States signed the Free Association Treaty, which guarantees economic and security assistance, allowing the United States to assume its defense responsibilities and use its military bases.

The relevant treaties will expire in 2023 and 2024.

　　However, negotiations for the renewal of the contract have stalled as the United States has been ignoring the main demands of the Pacific island nations.

Among these demands, the problems left over from history are quite prominent.

File:Marshall Islands.

　　Going back through history, it was none other than the United States that made the blue Pacific a "sad Pacific".

　　The Marshall Islands, isolated on the Pacific Ocean, are more than 5,000 kilometers away from the continental United States.

Because of its remoteness, the atolls there have become a nuclear test base for the United States, which has endured at least 67 nuclear weapons tests in 12 years, and nearly 20,000 square kilometers of sea area has become a permanent nuclear pollution area.

　　Locally, the extremely toxic plutonium-239 and plutonium-240 levels are 10 times that of the Chernobyl core area and 10 to 1,000 times that of the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The Aboriginal Micronesians were affected by the fallout and had to leave their homes and move around.

To this day, the "sequelae" of the nuclear test still haunt the lives of the locals.

Data map: A corner of the Marshall Islands.

　　However, for many years, the United States has refused to "pay" for the ecological catastrophe that it created.

It was not until March 2022 that the United States appointed Yin Rushang as the new negotiating envoy of the Pacific island countries to deal with matters such as compensation for the nuclear test issue. At present, the negotiations have been fruitless.

　　In this regard, the US Institute for Peace, which is funded by the US Congress, recently issued a report warning that if the renewal negotiations fail, these North Pacific island countries with the "most historical ties" to the United States will "turn to China", which may "jeopardize the command of the United States in important strategic geographies." military strength in the region and open the door to reshaping the regional architecture.”

[Partner or chess piece?

America's Small Circle]

　　For the United States, are Pacific island countries "partners or pawns"?

The Australian National University's DEVPOLICY website recently issued a document stating that the United States created the "Blue Pacific Partnership" to coordinate with Western allies and avoid the established regional decision-making process. The Pacific Island Summit does not mean openness and inclusiveness. The participating countries are selected.

　　The article also stated that a fundamental problem in the dialogue between the United States and the Pacific island countries is that the leaders of the island countries do not believe that China poses a threat to their security.

Their main challenge is to maintain regional unity around their own "Blue Pacific" narrative, rather than being part of the US containment of China.

Partner or pawn?

Pacific Islands in U.S. Strategy and the Washington Summit.

Image source: Screenshot of ANU DEVPOLICY website

　　Galin, an expert at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, also pointed out that the "Blue Pacific Partnership" and its conferences only involve five countries.

The five countries discussed regional issues behind the backs of regional countries and attempted to decide the future of Oceania "within a narrow circle". This is "very absurd and contradictory" and is unlikely to receive a positive response from the island countries.

　　On May 28, Fiji Prime Minister Bainimarama said bluntly, "Our biggest concern is not geopolitics, but climate change", which confirmed Galin's analysis.

　　Solomon Islands Prime Minister Sogavare is also speaking with practical actions.

In August, he did not attend the World War II memorial service hosted by the United States.

US Deputy Secretary of State Sherman commented that the Solomon Islands "missed a good opportunity to establish a new partnership with the United States".

　　At the end of August, the Solomon Islands suspended allowing any naval vessels to call in ports to monitor the "illegal fishing" of the Pacific Ocean, the US Coast Guard, and the British Royal Navy ships.

Prime Minister Solomon said he was slandered for signing an agreement with China, condemning the United States.

Image source: Screenshot of the Hong Kong "South China Morning Post" report

　　On September 24, at the general debate of the 77th UN General Assembly, Sogavare said that since the establishment of diplomatic relations with China, Solomon Islands has been subjected to "a series of baseless criticism, rumors and intimidation".

But the country "will not ally with any external forces or security mechanisms against sovereign states, threats to regional and international peace," and "will not be forced to choose sides."

[The Chinese side responded twice and pointed out the key points]

　　In response to Prime Minister Solomon's speech at the UN General Assembly, on September 26, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin responded as follows:

　　"Prime Minister Sogavare's remarks are powerful, which effectively countered the groundless and unfounded accusations against China-Solombia relations, and defended the legitimate rights of China and Sogavare to carry out normal exchanges and cooperation. China highly appreciates this."

　　Wang Wenbin further pointed out:

　　"China always adheres to the principles of mutual respect, equal treatment, mutual benefit, openness and inclusiveness, and develops friendly and cooperative relations with the Solomon Islands. It will always be a good friend and good partner that the Solomon Islands can trust, and will, as always, support the Solomon Islands to pursue an independent and The development path of its own national conditions”.

　　Previously, Wang Wenbin also said when answering a reporter's question:

　　"What island nations need is mutually beneficial cooperation based on equal treatment, not expediency based on geopolitical calculations."

　　"The U.S. side expressed its willingness to provide more support for the development of Pacific island countries, which is very good. I hope the U.S. side will do what it says."

(Finish)