US to open Vanuatu embassy in fresh move to counter China in Asia-Pacific

The United States plans
to open an embassy in the South Pacific island nation of
Vanuatu, the State Department said, in Washington’s
latest move to boost its diplomatic presence in the Pacific to
counter China’s growing influence.

“Consistent with the US Indo-Pacific [Asia-Pacific] strategy, a permanent diplomatic presence in Vanuatu would allow the US Government to deepen relationships with Ni-Vanuatu officials and society,” the department said in a statementon Friday. 

“Establishing US Embassy Port Vila would facilitate areas
of potential bilateral cooperation and development assistance,
including efforts to tackle the climate crisis,” it said.

The United States has diplomatic relations with Vanuatu,
which has a population of 319,000 spread across 80 islands, but
is currently represented by diplomats based in New Guinea.

The United States States reopened its embassy in the Solomon
Islands this year after a 30-year absence and the latest State
Department announcement follows a visit this month to the
region, including Vanuatu, by US regional coordinator Kurt
Campbell.

Other US embassies are planned in the Pacific island
nations of Kiribati and Tonga.

READ MORE:
China wants 10 Pacific islands to endorse ‘game-changing’ pact

China-Solomon ties

Despite the diplomatic push, the Solomon Islands announced
this month it had awarded a multi-million-dollar contract to a
Chinese state company to upgrade an international port in
Honiara.

The United States and its regional allies have held concerns
that China has ambitions to build a naval base in the region
since the Solomon Islands struck a security pact with Beijing
last year.

Washington has also been working to renew agreements with
the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Federated States of
Micronesia (FSM) under which it retains responsibility for the
islands’ defence and gains exclusive access to huge swaths of
the Pacific.

The Biden administration is seeking more than $7 billion
over the next two decades for economic assistance to the three
countries, the State Department said last week, funds seen as
key to insulating them from growing Chinese influence.

READ MORE:
Biden to host Pacific Island leaders with eyes on China