In order to strengthen its position in the area in the face of growing Chinese influence, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit the South Pacific next week, the State Department said on Thursday.
The State Department said that Blinken would fly to Tonga, a nation of Polynesians, on July 26 to attend the opening of a new US embassy before continuing on to Australia and New Zealand.
It follows Blinken’s journey to Papua New Guinea in May, when he inked a security agreement allowing the US military to establish and operate off of facilities there. This will be the first time a US secretary of state has ever visited Tonga.
President Joe Biden has advocated for more aggressive diplomacy with regional countries in an effort to solidify ties and stop Beijing from taking over.
However, a recent internal political crisis over the US budget caused Biden to postpone a trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea.
On condition of anonymity, a senior State Department official told media, “Our embassy is not being established to confront China.
“We’re delivering on our promise by stepping up our engagement in Tonga and the Pacific at large,” the official said.
The official said, “We want to be on the ground to… investigate ways that we can deepen our cooperation.”
In order to offset China’s expanding influence, the United States has positioned the greater Asia-Pacific area at the core of its global strategic posture.
Washington, which served as the area’s dominant force for many years after World War II, declares that it wishes to keep the Asia-Pacific region “free and open,” but China believes that the US presence is excessive given that it has military facilities all over the region.
On July 27, Blinken will take a flight from Tonga to Wellington, New Zealand, where he will conduct diplomatic business and witness the US team face the Netherlands in the Women’s World Cup soccer competition.
From there, he travels to Australia, where on July 28 and 29, he will meet with his counterpart and the defense ministers of the two nations.
To China’s dismay, the US, Australia, and UK signed the AUKUS security cooperation pact in 2021, allowing Canberra to purchase US nuclear-powered submarines.
It will be Blinken’s 12th visit to the area in the last two years.
