To counter China, West plans bigger footprint in Pacific: sources

The United States, Australia, France and Britain will open new embassies in the Pacific, boost staffing levels, and engage with leaders of island nations more often in a bid to counter China’s rising influence in the region, sources have told Reuters.

The battle for influence in the sparsely populated Pacific matters because each of the tiny island states has a vote at international forums like the United Nations, and they also control vast swathes of resource-rich ocean.

China has spent $1.3 billion on concessionary loans and gifts since 2011 to become the Pacific’s second-largest donor after Australia, stoking concern in the West that several tiny nations could end up overburdened and in debt to Beijing.

In response, Australia, New Zealand and the United States say they will increase economic aid and expanding their diplomatic presence to countries in the region, government officials and diplomats told Reuters.

“We are concerned about Chinese practices that lead to unsustainable debt,” said a U.S. government source with direct knowledge of Washington’s plan for the region, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. official said Washington needed to have adequate representation in the Pacific countries in order to let their governments know what options were open to them and the consequences of taking offers from elsewhere.

China’s embassy in Australia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Earlier this year, China’s ambassador said Beijing was careful to ensure that borrowers were able to meet debt repayments.

Representatives for the governments of Australia, Britain, France and the United States in Canberra did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The U.S. government source said Washington would boost diplomatic staffing numbers in Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and potentially Fiji within the next two years.