2023-09-25 16:01:53
– Biden officially recognizes two Pacific territories
The Cook Islands and Niue are now “sovereign and independent states” for the United States, which wants to assert its presence in the region.
Published today at 6:01 p.m.
The American president, who received many Pacific island leaders at the White House on Monday, recalled in a statement that the Cook Islands had “a long history of cooperation” with the United States.
AFP/Jim WATSON
Joe Biden, who wants to assert the American presence against China in the Pacific, announced Monday that he officially recognized two Pacific territories, the Cook Islands and Niue (Nuiue), as “sovereign and independent states”.
The American president, who received numerous Pacific island leaders at the White House on Monday, recalled in a statement that the Cook Islands had “a long history of cooperation” with the United States, and estimated that Niue (Nuie ), this small territory also called “the rock of Polynesia”, played “an important and constructive role” in the Pacific, particularly in the fight against climate change.
Niue, a tiny autonomous state, populated by only 1,700 inhabitants and in free association with New Zealand, has just launched an original initiative to protect its ecosystem: offering to sponsor, for 140 euros, the protection of one km2 of the Pacific.
Concerning the Cook Islands, Joe Biden recalled in his press release that the United States had built airport runways there.
Fight against global warming
The official recognition of this archipelago of some 17,000 inhabitants should, according to the White House, make it possible in particular to better fight against illegal fishing, and also against climate change, two concerns common to many micro-states in the Pacific.
The American president is organizing the second “United States and Pacific Islands Forum Summit” on Monday and Tuesday, almost a year to the day after the first edition, which also took place in Washington.
The American executive must announce on this occasion, according to senior officials, a stronger diplomatic footprint, infrastructure projects, and strengthened maritime cooperation.
“It is obvious that China plays some role in all of this, it is obvious that its ambitions and its influence in this region are a reason for us to continue our strategic offensive,” said a senior White House official, who requested anonymity, during an interview with the press.
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