WELLINGTON. The US is placing renewed emphasis on its investment in the Pacific region, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who completed a five-day tour of the region, said in a statement yesterday. “The future will be written here in the Pacific,” Sherman said during a trade agreement signing ceremony in the New Zealand capital.

However, the US is accused of neglecting the region and strengthening Chinese influence. Sherman stressed that the US has always been a Pacific nation, adding that President Biden’s priority is to restore alliances and warm relations with countries around the world.

Battle for Influence

When asked which country – the US or China – is winning the battle for influence, the American minister replied that she prefers to avoid militaristic analogies. “This is not a battle. I appreciate that each country is trying to expand its network of contacts in order to progress. The United States, for its part, is not asking any country to choose between us and China or between any other country,” Sherman emphasized.

A US official said Washington wants to keep the post-World War II rules that allowed China to prosper. However, critics of US foreign policy point out that Washington indirectly blackmails small Pacific island states, seeking to distance them from Beijing’s influence.

On Sunday, the Solomon Islands prime minister refused to attend a ceremony to commemorate the victims of the Battle of Guadalcanal in protest at Washington’s pressure to sever ties with Beijing.