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https://theconversation.com/us-takes-a-renewed-interest-in-the-pacific-and-chinas-role-in-it-190053>
"If you are trying to find traces of the United States’ long and layered ties
with the Pacific Islands in Washington D.C., you need to look hard. Apart from
the names of iconic battles chiselled into the Washington Mall’s second world
war memorial, evidence of America’s complex Pacific history stretching back to
the beginning of the Republic is not there.
Until very recently, this absence was replicated throughout Washington’s
institutions, where the Pacific Islands have been at the back of mind since
those epic battles were fought 80 years ago.
But over the past few months, things have changed.
The reason for this dramatic shift is plain for all to see: China. Washington
is now undergoing a Pacific re-discovery that goes all the way to the top.
At the end of September, US President Joe Biden will host Pacific leaders at
the White House for the first US-Pacific Island Country Summit. This will be in
the style of the ASEAN meeting held in May.
After the second world war, the US was largely absent in the Pacific. There
were notable exceptions, not least the shameful Marshall Islands atomic testing
programme that continues to deeply affect the present.
Now the US is striving to be seen and viewed as a force for good in a part of
the world where China has been making deep, transformative and worrying inroads
for over 15 years."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
