“Today’s announcement will allow us to expand the scope of this longstanding partnership as we seek to address the challenges that matter most to our people’s lives,” Biden says.
The US will officially recognize as “sovereign and independent states” the Cook Islands and Niue, two small island countries in the Pacific, US President Joe Biden announced today, in another move by Washington to strengthen the US presence in the Pacific, with the eyes on China.
Biden made the announcement ahead of a summit this week with Pacific island leaders, as part of a US policy to block further Chinese incursions into a strategically important region that Washington has for years considered its own sphere of influence.
The US president said the US has a long history of cooperation with the Cook Islands, dating back to World War II, when the US military built airstrips on one of the island group’s atolls.
At the same time, Biden emphasized that the Niue Islands, this small area also called “the rock of Polynesia”, play an “important and constructive role” in the Pacific, especially in the fight against climate change.
“Today’s announcement will allow us to expand the scope of this long-standing partnership as we seek to address the challenges that matter most to the lives of our people,” Biden said in the announcement.
The White House has said the summit will focus on priorities such as climate change, economic growth, sustainable development, public health and the fight against illegal fishing.
Source :Skai
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