By Chen Hong
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken chaired the first Ministerial Meeting of the so-called Partners in the Blue Pacific in New York, on September 22. Formed in June 2022, this informal group, allegedly aimed to coordinate aid for Pacific island countries, has the US, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the UK as its members, with Canada just announcing its plan to join. Washington claimed building such a partnership is for the good of the South Pacific island countries. Is that true?
In recent years, the US has been very anxious about the equal and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and South Pacific island countries. In 2022 alone, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, White House’s Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Kurt Campbell, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, and several other officials visited a number of island countries in the South Pacific. It came as no surprise that they, without exception, were fabricating and hyping up the “China threat theory” in the attempt to thwart their cooperation with China, and vowing to provide more aid to them, claiming that the US has come back to the Pacific.
However, Washing, facing multiple domestic challenges such as political polarization and economic woes, has no heart to help the South Pacific with real cash and concrete actions. Therefore, after forming the Quad and AUKUS, it is now – again – scrambling together this new group of allies and trying to use them as its cat’s paw in the strategic competition against China in the Pacific region.
While putting together this small circle of Partners in the Blue Pacific, American officials continued to smear China’s intention of working with South Pacific island countries. But both the people of those countries and the whole international community know perfectly well who is making waves in the beautiful blue Pacific.
The US side claimed that the Pacific island countries are faring much worse than before and that their way of life has been threatened. Well, in history, they were indeed enslaved, exploited and plundered by western colonists. After they gained independence, western countries turned a blind eye to how their colonial rule has damaged the local economy and society, and never provided any substantial aid and support to them, just leaving them with backward economy, inadequate infrastructure, and a dire state of life. In the past decade and more, the cooperation between Pacific island countries and China has yielded tremendous success. China’s aid, construction, and investment on the principle of equality and mutual benefits are bringing satisfying changes to their economy and livelihood.
The rumors like “debt trap” and “military base” fabricated by the US-led West out of thin air are falling flat like bubbles. Driven by its anti-China strategy, America’s attempt to turn the Pacific island countries into tools and weapons is the real threat to regional stability, serenity and development. It proclaimed that the Partners in the Blue Pacific will focus on what those countries need, but have they – like the US and Japan – ever tried to understand and consider their concerns? Or do they even care to?
When addressing the general debate of the UN General Assembly on September 22, President of the Federated States of Micronesia David Panuelo condemned Japan’s decision to dump the radwaste water from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, he said that "the impacts of this decision are both transboundary and intergenerational in nature". He indignantly called upon the international community to face squarely the unimaginable threats that will surely arise from Japan’s dumping of wastewater, such as nuclear contamination, marine pollution, and the eventual damage tothe blue Pacific continent.
While pledging their care for the needs of the people living on the Pacific island countries, the US-led West has connived and indulged in Japan, a member of the Partners in the Blue Pacific, dumping the wastewater into the sea, knowing perfectly that’s against international law and humanity. There is no better proof of the double standards and hypocrisy of this small circle. If these western countries are true partners for the island countries, they should fully recognize and reply to their legitimate demand for peace and development, instead of just paying lip service and using them as a tool to contain China.
(The author is director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University)
Editor's note: Originally published on huanqiu.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
