China circles Pacific, US steps its game

A senior administration official told reporters as quoted by CNN in a call the US was "significantly stepping up (its) game in the Pacific Islands."

The incentives included 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, CNN reported.

The measures will be personally presented to Pacific leaders Wednesday in a virtual address by US Vice President Kamala Harris -- underscoring Washington's efforts to stress the Pacific's importance to US strategy.

"There's clear regional and subregional dynamics at play," Anna Powles, a senior lecturer at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at Massey University in New Zealand, told CNN.

"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," Powles said.

China may deny playing a role in Kiribati's decision not to attend the forum, but Professor Anne-Marie Brady, a specialist on China's policies in the Pacific at the University of Canterbury, said Beijing's influence is clear.

"Kiribati appears to have been given instructions not to attend," Brady said, based on her observations of China's recent activity in the Pacific.

"The timing of the announcement shows it is meant to be a disruptor to Pacific unity, just when it was about to come up with a collective response on China's attempt to set up a security treaty in the region," Brady added.