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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will arrive in Fiji on Wednesday for his latest diplomatic mission as the US launches its biggest Pacific push since World War II.
Albanese will join the leaders of 17 other countries at the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Suva.
The US will reveal on Wednesday the details of what a senior member of the Biden administration said was "significantly stepping up (its) game in the Pacific Islands", in a bid to counter China's efforts to dominate the region.
The US will offer incentives to Pacific leaders to counter moves by Beijing.
The incentives include more funding for fisheries, extra aid, and offers of new US embassies in the Pacific — including one in Kiribati, which along with the Solomon Islands appears to be moving closer to China.
The measures will be personally presented to Pacific leaders on Wednesday in a virtual address by US Vice President Kamala Harris — underscoring Washington's efforts to stress the Pacific's importance to US strategy.
It's not clear if Kiribati's decision to pull out of the Pacific Island Forum this week influenced the scale of the US commitment.
The US has been promising greater engagement in the region for months as China sought to strike a flurry of deals with Pacific leaders.
But Kiribati's decision to go it alone while tightening its economic and diplomatic ties with China shows the depth of the diplomatic challenges in the region — and the pressure Pacific leaders are under as they try to manage their domestic and regional affairs.
"There's clear regional and subregional dynamics at play," said Anna Powles, a senior lecturer at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at Massey University in New Zealand.
"What is unclear is what President Maamau's gameplan is, what he's hoping to achieve by withdrawing Kiribati from the forum, and how this will benefit the people of Kiribati."
Before heading to Fiji, Albanese said Australia wanted to remain the "security partner of choice" for its Pacific island neighbours.
But there are concerns the influence of China in the region, particularly in the Solomon Islands, threatens Australia's place as first-choice partner.
Source: 9News
