U.S. President Joe Biden (right) and Secretary of State Blinken speak at the Pacific Islands Summit.Photo: Retrieved from Visual China
From 28th to 29th local time, 14 leaders and representatives of Pacific Island countries were invited to Washington to participate in the first US-Pacific Island Countries Summit.
U.S. Secretary of State, Secretary of Commerce and other officials attended, and U.S. President Biden delivered a speech on the 29th and entertained the participants. The White House announced a “Pacific Strategy” on the same day, announcing that the United States plans to provide $810 million in new aid to Pacific island countries. But the summit’s joint statement is still difficult to produce.
New Zealand’s “Stuff” website reported on the 29th local time that Federated States of Micronesia President Panuelo told reporters that the “vision statement” prepared by the United States for the summit this week was in trouble, one reason being that the US State Department asked to delete it. Wording on Washington’s handling of the Marshall Islands nuclear legacy.
An unsigned draft statement seen by Archyde.com said the United States remained committed to addressing environmental and health concerns in the Marshall Islands, but did not specifically mention the legacy of U.S. nuclear tests there in the 1940s and 1950s.
After the end of World War II, the United States used the South Pacific region as a nuclear test site, and carried out 67 nuclear explosions in the Marshall Islands. The nuclear waste transported from the Nevada desert in the United States was directly buried in the South Pacific island country, causing leukemia in the people of the relevant countries. , The incidence of cancer is high.
Earlier this month, the Marshall Islands suspended talks with the U.S. to extend the strategic partnership between the two countries, the VOA said. The country protested that the U.S. failed to address the economic impact of its nuclear tests in the region. , environmental and health issues. Brian Harding, a senior expert on Southeast Asian affairs at the U.S. Institute for Peace, said the nuclear legacy is important and difficult.
A nuclear waste landfill in the Marshall Islands, known locally as a “grave”.Figure: Retrieved from Sina.com
Politico reported that Biden administration officials denied the conflict with the Marshall Islands on the 28th, saying the report that the country had suspended negotiations with the United States was “inaccurate”.
U.S. officials were also quick to say they had reached an agreement with the countries following a diplomatic note leaked from the Solomon Islands refusing to sign the joint statement. Perhaps the Biden administration has taken care of the friction that emerged before the summit, but the attitude of the Marshall Islands and Solomon Islands has cast a shadow over U.S. efforts to deepen its influence in the region.
Speaking at the general debate of the United Nations General Assembly last week, Solomon Islands Prime Minister Sogavare said the country had been “unfairly attacked” and “vilified” for its normal relationship with China, The Washington Post said.
From 28th to 29th local time, 14 leaders and representatives of Pacific Island countries were invited to Washington to participate in the first US-Pacific Island Countries Summit.
The White House announced a “Pacific Strategy” on the same day, announcing that the United States plans to provide $810 million in new aid to Pacific island countries. But the summit’s joint statement is still difficult to produce.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Sujawari. Figure: Retrieved from the YouTube channel (file photo)
On October 9, 2019, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele attended a signing ceremony held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China.Photo: Dazhi Image/Archyde.com
A mushroom cloud rose in the sky as the United States tested its first hydrogen bomb in the Marshall Islands on November 1, 1952.Figure: Reprinted from Sina.com
