China strategy in Pacific islands a cause for US concern: Report

To counter China’s rising affect within the Pacific the US ought to bolster assist for island states, new report states.

Chinese language Premier Li Keqiang, left, and Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, proper, assessment an honour guard throughout a welcome ceremony on the Nice Corridor of the Folks in Beijing in 2019 [Mark Schiefelbein/AP]

China has achieved progress within the Pacific islands as an space of strategic curiosity that it has not been in a position to obtain elsewhere on this planet, a brand new report by a US Congress-funded think-tank has stated.

The development of China’s geo-strategic targets amongst Pacific nations ought to be a trigger for concern – however not alarm – for Washington, in line with the report launched on Tuesday by america Institute for Peace, whose co-authors embody former senior navy officers.

To counter China’s rising affect within the area, the US ought to bolster assist for island states within the north Pacific the place it had the strongest historic ties, the report suggests.

“Chinese language officers haven't said publicly that the Pacific Islands area is an space of heightened strategic curiosity, however the advantages for Beijing of elevated engagement with the area are clear,” in line with the report.

“Maybe to a better extent than some other geographic space, the Pacific Islands provide China a low-investment, high-reward alternative to attain symbolic, strategic, and tactical victories in pursuit of its international agenda.”

The report comes forward of a gathering between US President Joe Biden and a dozen Pacific island leaders subsequent week, as Washington seeks to compete for affect with Beijing.

The Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau are sovereign nations referred to as Freely Related States (FAS) that signed compacts within the late Eighties giving the US defence obligations and the appropriate to navy bases in these territories.

These compacts, which expire in 2023 and 2024, are at present being renegotiated by the US and the report warned that the involved states may look to China for funding if negotiations with Washington fail.

“The huge FAS territorial seas, which span a lot of the northern Pacific, are an necessary strategic buffer between US defence belongings in Guam and Hawaii and East Asian littoral waters,” in line with the report, whose authors embody Philip Davidson, a former commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and David Stilwell, a former US assistant secretary of state.

If Beijing have been to achieve bringing one of many FAS states into its sphere, “it could imperil US navy capabilities in a strategically very important geographic command space and open the door to a broader reordering of regional structure with implications effectively past the Pacific area,” the report states.

A US missile defence take a look at vary within the Marshall Islands is crucial to US house and missile-defence capabilities, the report added.

Washington wants to offer a substitute for Chinese language financial help to “counter Beijing’s efforts to capitalize on regional perceptions of neglect and abandonment”, the report notes.

Extra assets have been additionally wanted to watch China’s rising exercise within the FAS, the place Chinese language analysis vessels with “navy utility” have been noticed transferring round with out permission.

The Federated States of Micronesia not too long ago agreed to develop new US navy amenities, and Palau requested that the US construct airstrips, ports and bases, which “Washington ought to contemplate severely to the extent that it aligns with defence wants,” the report stated.