The United States has come to the Pacific Islands Forum with US$150 million (NZ$257 million) and is promising to work with four Pacific countries targeted by costly immigration visa fees.
In an exclusive interview with 1News, the US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said the Pacific is of strategic interest to the US.
"We would like to be part of the story of the future of this region. I think we will be because we’re part of this region, it’s inevitable," he said.
New initiatives include US$60 million (NZ$102.8 million) into helping Pacific nations address the global fuel crisis, US$17 million (NZ$29.12 million) to help counter illegal fishing, a feasibility study on upgrading Tonga’s port facilities, and fuel supply and several infrastructure projects.
One of those infrastructure projects is the NZ$100 million port project in Penrhyn, Cook Islands, to which New Zealand is also contributing around $17 million.
Landau said the port in Penrhyn will promote economic development and help in security assistance such as the escalation of drug trafficking through the Pacific.
"Once you have a port there, obviously that makes it easier for ships to moor there or dock there and then to be conducting patrols in those waters," he said.
Deep sea mining in focus
Greenpeace has described the Cook Islands, US and NZ partnership as "a gross act of colonialism and resource grabbing" as part of a US agenda to start deep sea mining in the Pacific.
Landau said it was no secret that the United States has concerns about China having a stranglehold on the world supply of certain minerals.
“At some point you can't disentangle economic security and national security if some other country has the ability to basically halt your industries at their will by just denying export licenses for the ingredients that are necessary for your factories to produce products or other kinds of inputs."
He said he hoped the US would partner with the Cook Islands on deep sea mining – should it happen in the future. "The United States, we have capital, we have know-how, we have businesses."
The Penrhyn partnership had effectively side-lined China which also had a keen interest in mining in the Cook Islands and signed agreements to that effect last year. A spokesperson from China’s Foreign Ministry says it hoped the relevant countries would act in the spirit of openness and genuinely support development goals.
The Cook Islands Exclusive Economic Zone covered 2 million square kilometres. Landau said the Pacific was an area of strategic interest to the US.
"It’s certainly one that our history teaches us from World War 1 that if you don’t pay attention to what happens here, you might pay a serious price in blood and we hope never to go back to that."
New information on China ballistic missile test
The US condemned China’s ballistic missile test into the Pacific region in July, saying two hours was far from enough notice.
The Deputy Secretary of State today revealed new information about its trajectory.
"That missile flew directly over the sovereign territory of the Federated States of Micronesia. It is a great concern to us that as a country with whom we have a defence and security compact has a missile flying overhead that they did not receive proper notice of,” he said.
"We certainly hope leaders in this part of the world make it clear that this is unacceptable, as I believe they will."
Some nations at the Pacific Islands Forum were unhappy they had been targeted by a US immigration visa bond of up to $27,000, Passport holders from 50 countries globally, including Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga and Tuvalu are subject to the bond.
Landau admitted the issue had been brought up in bilateral meetings he’s attended.
"Obviously, we always listen respectfully to what our partners say," he said.
"I will say, and I said this to our partners yesterday, this is not something that is a Pacific-specific issue. This is a worldwide issue. This is something, frankly, that we're rolling out worldwide to disincentivise people from overstaying their visas."
When 1News pointed out that Tuvalu has a population of less than 10,000 people and probably does not fit into the scenario he was describing, Landau said it was a global issue and the US would work with the countries affected to try and make things easier.
“We’re happy to talk to our friends and partners. In fact, I'm talking to their representatives shortly this morning."
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon arrives tonight to join his counterparts at a leaders retreat tomorrow where some weighty issues are expected to be on the table.
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