Politico | DEFIANCE by Marshall Islands and Solomon Islands cast shadow over Biden's Pacific Summit, 28 Sep, Day 1 off the reservation

the Solomon Islands, which signed a controversial security pact with China earlier this year, is refusing to sign an 11-point summit declaration "designed to provide a framework for intensified U.S. engagement in the Pacific," the Australian Broadcasting Corporation [ABCnet.au] reported Tuesday.

"the remains of former World War II battlefields such as Guadalcanal"

The administration is coordinating its summit outreach with its Partners in the Blue Pacific initiative allies Japan, Australia, New Zealand[, EU,] and the United Kingdom "to add more resources, more capacity, more diplomatic engagement as a whole," said The Official®. The summit will also mark the launch of the U.S. government's first-ever Pacific Strategy [since WWII], a regional-specific compliment [sic] to the administration's China-containing Indo-Pacific Strategy launched in September 2021.

"This [strategy]* is specifically aimed at the concerns and the objectives in the Pacific as a whole ... [and]* about how to organize the disparate elements of the U.S. government toward tackling issues like climate change, training, issues associated with [over]*fishing, investments in technology," The Official® said.

fail

The administration will deploy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo[,] and Biden's climate envoy John Kerry on Wednesday [29 Sep] to tout the administration's determination to improve Pacific Island countries' links to the U.S.

"questions and concerns"

But the Marshall Islands' move to freeze talks on COFA [Compact of Free Association, Dept. Interior] renewal [sic] is a kick in the teeth to the administration just days after Special Presidential Envoy Ambassador Joseph Yun told POLITICO that the State Department was on track to renew COFAs with Palau, Micronesia[,] and the Marshall Islands by end-2022 after six months of intensive negotiations. And it raises questions about the Biden administration's strategy to use those COFAs to effectively firewall those three countries from Beijing's efforts to displace the U.S. as the region's dominant superpower....

* brackets in original
archived AUKUS/IPEF update: pivot to Paris Accord  June 2022

Sputnik | Solomon Islands Deals a Blow to US by Refusing to Sign Pacific Declaration, 28 Sep
"The Pacific leaders have also compared US draft declaration with a similar proposal put forth by China in June. Pacific Island leaders rejected it and asked China to come up with a fresh document."

reference
GAO, "COMPACTS OF FREE ASSOCIATION, Implications of Planned Ending of Some U.S.
Economic Assistance", Feb 2022, 200 pp; no Solomon Islands COFA
Guardian | US Pacific summit faces rocky start as [PIC] leaders reject Washington's offers, 28 Sep

The 11-point declaration of US-Pacific partnership, a draft of which has been seen by the Guardian, commits Pacific countries and the US to working together "in the face of a worsening climate crisis and an increasingly complex geopolitical environment".

The [US] draft differs markedly from the sweeping regional economic and security deal that China presented to 10 Pacific countries earlier this year, which was ultimately rejected by Pacific leaders.

wut

China's deal was incredibly detailed, committing to particular sums of money, programs and even outlining the number Chinese art troupes that would be sent to the islands as part of a cultural exchange program. [...] The draft declaration with the US is far more general, committing to principles of engagement - such as bolstering Pacific regionalism, tackling the climate crisis, advancing economic growth, protecting the Blue Pacific[,] and maintaining peace and security - rather than outlining specific policies and promises

whitehouse.gov | Declaration on U.S.-Pacific Partnership, 29 Sep 11-point cover story
Pacific Islands Forum signatures (1971 PIC): AU, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Vanuatu
+ 1: USA

annotations (ICYM p 1 in GAO Feb 2022 report, prepared for Manchin and Murkowski)
Macau News | US announces $810 mn in new funding for Pacific Islands at summit, 30 Sep

The White House said $600 million will be in the form of a 10-year package to clean up and develop dirty waters to support the tuna [!] industry, while the United States will also expand climate and development aid and its diplomatic presence.
[...]
The Biden administration also announced that the United States would recognize Cook Islands and Niue, a self-governing territory whose foreign and defense policies and currency are linked to New Zealand. The step will allow the United States to increase its diplomatic footprint in the Cook Island and Niue, which have fewer than 20,000 inhabitants but constitute a sprawling economic zone in the South Pacific.
[...]
Launching a new strategy for engagement, Biden also designated a veteran US ambassador in the region, Frankie Reed, as the first-ever US envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum. The United States earlier announced the restoration of an embassy in the Solomon Islands, amid the heavy presence of China, and the White House said Thursday [29 Sep] that US embassies would also open in Tonga and Kiribati.

* liberated observer, dialogue: IN*, ID*, TH*, MY*, PH*, CN*, JP*, KR*; EU-CO*, TR*, UK*, US*, CA*, FR*, DE*, IT*,  ES*; CU*

The White House said that Canada and Germany will join and that France -- itself a South Pacific power [!] -- as well as the European Union, South Korea[,] and India would participate as non-members.
[...]
Speaking to AFP, [Solomon Islands PM Manasseh] Sogavare said that negotiations in Washington had addressed his concerns "in a positive way" ahead of the expected unveiling of a partnership declaration with the United States.

"We had specific issues on certain regional organizations such as ASEAN and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue being included as no consultations with them have happened with Pacific small island developing states," Sogavare said, referring to the Southeast Asian bloc and the four-way Quad of the United States, Australia, Japan[,] and India. Sogavare said that his government also sought to insert language on a "cessation of hostilities and a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine [!] war." ...

Bloomberg | Solomons Signs US-Led Pacific Deal After Historic Meeting, 29 Sep money quote

• Biden commits more than $810 million to new [top up] Pacific initiative [COFA trust fund]
• Washington is trying to counter Beijing's diplomacy in Pacific
[...]
In the past year, the US and Australia have been increasingly concerned about growing Chinese government influence in the Pacific and have escalated diplomatic activity in the region. The UNEXPECTED announcement in April of a ["]security agreement["] being struck between China and the Solomon Islands was a major diplomatic win for Beijing [and Solomon Islands].
[...]
"We hope the US will offer support for these countries' development and revitalization, instead of using cooperation as a pretext to engage in geopolitical rivalry and replicate bloc confrontation," [Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman] Mao [Ning] said.

change.org | Jordon Steele-John's response, 29 Sep AUKUS

I am pleased to let you know that In the Australian Senate today I tabled this petition and supported its calls for Australia to withdraw from AUKUS, end the development of nuclear submarines and put a stop to Australia's integration with the US military. ...