Fiji set to join US in economic initiative

Bloomberg

Fiji will join the US in a wide-ranging economic initiative, making it the first Pacific Island country to do so as competition heats up between Beijing and Washington for influence in the Asia-Pacific.
News of Fiji becoming the 14th country to join President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) came as China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a rare eight-day tour to Pacific island countries. He is looking to push for similar security deals that Beijing struck in April with the Solomon Islands, while also expanding trade ties.
“A close partner to the United States and a leader in the region, Fiji will add vital value and perspective to IPEF, including on our efforts to tackle the climate crisis and build a clean economy that creates good paying jobs,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.
Biden launched the IPEF during his first trip to Asia, in a bid to assert US leadership. The framework is the most significant US effort to engage Asia on economic matters since former President Donald Trump in
2017 withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement negotiated under the Obama
administration.
“If it’s all about optics, then what you actually want is a lot of members, a lot of potential members,” said Deborah Elms, Singapore-based executive director of the Asian Trade Centre. “And because it’s the clean economy you could have pulled in, I would imagine, half of the Pacific island nations.”
Tensions between China and US allies in the Pacific have ratcheted up in the past month, after the Chinese government said in April it had signed a security agreement with the Solomon Islands. While the final wording of the deal hasn’t been released, an earlier draft version which was leaked on social media would allow Beijing to deploy security personnel to the Solomons in the wake of domestic unrest.
It would also allow Chinese warships safe harbour in the Solomon Islands, just 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) off the coastline of Australia.
The Pacific is a vital geostrategic region to both the US and China. For Beijing, the string of small nations are important diplomatic partners who can help its agenda in the United Nations, while the US and Australia rely on the Pacific to protect their security and trade ties.
Less than 72 hours after being sworn in on Monday, Australia’s new Foreign Minister Penny Wong flew to Fiji to meet with the country’s prime minister ahead of the Chinese delegations’ visit to the island.