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One year of <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>! Like his 18 foreign trips, the first year in office for Modi has also been ‘selfie-abundant’. From Barack Obama to <keyword id="191503" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Li-Keqiang">Li Keqiang</keyword>, Modi’s <keyword id="1725157" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Selfie">selfie</keyword> list can beat even the Avengers’ power quotient! 
 So, as the world gets down to ranking Modi’s developmental performance, we at Business Insider <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> try and up the ‘fun quotient’ by putting together for you a list of the top 6 Modi ‘selfies’ that had the world and their powerful leaders drooling! 
1. Well, the first is an obvious guess! It is with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang taken during his first and historic visit to <keyword id="1334" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="China">China</keyword>. And it has already been termed as the “Most power-packed selfie in history” by the Wall Street Journal. The two most powerful leaders of the two most populated regions. 
 
 
 
2. Then we nominate his selfie taken during his visit to <keyword id="103894" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="U-S-">U.S.</keyword> though he did not take any selfie with President Barrack Obama, much to the disappointment of his fans, but his selfie with the Indian-American actor Kal Penn went viral. If one forgets, apart from talking about world peace, Modi also introduced the proposition of observing Yoga Day. 
 
 
3. Next in line comes his selfie with Australian counterpart <keyword id="201673" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Tony-Abbott">Tony Abbott</keyword>. Apart from the fact this selfie stands testimony to the promises made by both governments for a better future, this selfie grabbed the third position because, look at the background! It is the historic Melbourne cricket stadium. This comes after the nuclear deal signed by Australia and India, during Abbott’s visit to India. 
 
 
4. Next in line, giving a tough competition to the above, is his selfie with Indian students in front of French Space Agency. This selfie stands for the 36 Rafale jets deal signed between the two countries, during this visit. 
 
 
 
5. The fifth is his selfie with his <keyword id="79116" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Fiji">Fiji</keyword> counterpart <keyword id="134463" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Frank-Bainimarama">Frank Bainimarama</keyword>. Though this selfie does not speak of any earmarked deals, but look at the neatness and the elegance of the selfie pose. Only a niche selfie man can achieve that level of perfection! 
 
 
6. It all started with the first selfie taken by Modi after 2014 elections. All might remember the fuss about it. 
 
 
 
(Image credits: economictimes.indiatimes.com, <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/">www.buzzfeed.com</a>, <a href="http://www.ndtv.com/">www.ndtv.com</a>, <a href="http://www.abplive.in/">www.abplive.in</a>, twiplomacy.com, <a href="http://www.bgr.in/">www.bgr.in</a>)

Pictures speak a thousand words. But, when it’s Narendra Modi, his selfies speak a million!

India has announced a credit of $75 million to <keyword id="79116" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Fiji">Fiji</keyword> for a power plant and upgrading the island country’s sugar industry. Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> announced this after meeting his Fijian counterpart <keyword id="134463" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Frank-Bainimarama">Frank Bainimarama</keyword>. Modi also announced ‘visa on arrival’ for Fiji citizens. 
 
Modi reached there on the third and final leg of his 10-day three-nation tour. This is the first visit to the country by an Indian Prime Minister in more than three decades since the visit of Indira Gandhi in 1981. 
 
The island country rolled out the red carpet for the Indian Prime Minister, who also received a guard of honour on arrival at the airport. Bainimarama was himself present at the airport to receive Modi. 
 
"It is a new day and a new beginning in our relations with Fiji. Fiji could serve as a hub for stronger Indian engagement with Pacific islands. I see this visit as an opportunity to renew an old relationship and lay the foundation for a strong partnership in the future," said Modi. 
 
"I regard Fiji as an important partner for India. We have deep and enduring ties of history and culture. Fiji is an influential voice in the Pacific Region and the developing world, and our partner in multilateral institutions," he added. 
 
Modi also addressed Fiji’s Parliament and pledged support to build a ‘Digital Fiji.’

India
Announces $75-million Credit To Fiji

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="79116" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Fiji">Fiji</keyword> men's rugy team won gold in <keyword id="57151" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Rugby-sevens">rugby sevens</keyword> at the <keyword id="4741" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Tokyo">Tokyo</keyword> <keyword id="6360967" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="olympics">Olympics</keyword> on Thursday.</li><li>After the final, the player's emotionally sang a traditional Fijian song on the podium. </li><li>The song was a tribute to their country, which has dealt with a devastating COVID-19 outbreak.</li></ul>The Fiji men's Rugby brought a much-needed victory to its country with a gold medal in rugby sevens at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday with a 27-12 win over New Zealand.Then at the medal ceremony on Thursday, the Fijian players paid a touching and emotional tribute to their country by singing a traditional song called "E Da Sa Qaqa," which contains lyrics translated to "we will overcome."Fiji has dealt with a devastating COVID-19 outbreak this year, which has wrecked the small island nation over the past few months. The country, which has a population of just 900,000 and an underdeveloped health care system, has seen more than 25,000 cases and 200 deaths. The players had to spend the last five months away from family and friends training in Australia while their country struggled with a pandemic, as they were not allowed to return to avoid the risk of infection. The team captain Jerry Tuwai almost backed out to return home, but he stuck with his team and helped lead the effort to bring a gold medal to his distressed nation."I have three kids, so it is really hard for me," Tuwai said in a press conference. "We have our ups and downs in camp. It's a long story. I nearly jumped camp because I missed them and we are really close. That is why (Gareth Baber) is the coach - he grabbed me inside the camp, and he tied us together so we can continue the journey towards Tokyo."Things didn't get much easier for the team when it came time to travel to Tokyo. After the pandemic grounded most airlines into Japan, the Fijian players had to hitch a ride on <a href="https://www.insider.com/fijis-olympic-rugby-team-hitched-ride-tokyo-cargo-flightfrozen-fish-2021-7">a cargo flight</a> filled with frozen fish and athletes from several other Pacific countries. Yet, they managed to overcome all the obstacles to defend the gold medal they last claimed at the 2016 Rio Olympics. "It is more special than 2016 because we have been away from our families for about five or six months," Tuwai said. The people of Fiji were given a brief distraction from the ongoing pandemic. Despite a curfew in the country that requires citizens to stay indoors from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m., thousands of Fijians broke the curfew to celebrate the victory by singing hymns and dancing in the streets. Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama extended his gratitude to the team for what they had done for the country in a time when it needed it most. "The win is worth more than a gold to Fijians everywhere," Bainimarama <a href="https://apnews.com/article/2020-tokyo-olympics-sports-coronavirus-pandemic-rugby-fiji-a149ac0e265d6fe2449913659d994083">told</a> Radio New Zealand. "Fijians love this game. It has always united us. (It) shows that we can achieve greatness no matter what the world may throw our way, even with <keyword id="8764262" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid">COVID</keyword>."

The Fiji men's rugby team made an emotional tribute to its country's harsh battle against COVID-19 after winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics

Suva (Fiji), Apr 5 (AFP) Two Fiji rugby players have been arrested for ignoring the Pacific nation's coronavirus self-isolation rules, with local authorities saying their "irresponsible behaviour" would be reported to rugby's world governing body.The two men have not been publically identified but the Fiji Rugby Union confirmed they were professionals and media reported them variously to be sevens players and internationals.Fiji are the Olympic sevens champions and were third in the current world series before it was put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic.Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama accused the players of putting "the whole of Fiji at risk".He said one player, who arrived from Singapore, "had a high risk of exposure to the virus while overseas" and then escaped from isolation in a Fiji hospital."Unlucky for him he couldn't step his way past our Fiji police force. He has been arrested and is in isolation at Nadi hospital," Bainimarama said.The Fiji Rugby Union would take "appropriate disciplinary actions against the professional rugby players, including reporting this highly irresponsible behaviour to their clubs and World Rugby," chief executive John O'Connor said."The Fiji rugby family wants to put on record our great disappointment at the irresponsible behaviour of these two players putting their families and other Fijians at risk."Such irresponsible behaviour is totally unacceptable, and we support the actions of the police in arresting these two players and any further action taken against them." (AFP) APAAPA

Fiji rugby players arrested for breaching virus isolation

<ul class="summary-list"><li>During the first half of 2022, <keyword id="11892748" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="china" source="Orion">China</keyword> has intensified its outreach to Pacific Island nations.</li><li>China's inroads have alarmed the US and its allies in the region, which see Beijing as going for a strategic advantage.</li></ul>In the five months since one of President Joe Biden's top advisers warned that the Pacific was likely where the US could see a "strategic surprise" from China, Beijing has stepped up its overtures to the small but important islands of the region, prompting the US and its allies to scramble in response to growing Chinese influence.Kurt Campbell, the coordinator for <keyword id="12054992" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="indo-pacific" source="Orion">Indo-Pacific</keyword> on the National Security Council, told a think-tank audience in January that such a surprise — consisting of "basing or certain kinds of agreements or arrangements" — was a top concern "over the next year or two."That concern was given form in late March with the leak of a draft "<a href="https://twitter.com/AnnaPowles/status/1506845794728837120" target="_blank" rel="noopener">security cooperation</a>" agreement between China and the <keyword id="12279524" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="solomon-islands" source="Orion">Solomon Islands</keyword>, which said the Solomons could ask China to send police and military personnel "to assist in maintaining social order" and that China could, with permission, make "ship visits" and send "relevant forces" to protect Chinese interests — potentially giving China's military a toehold in the South Pacific.<div type="image" title="China navy ship Tonga" height="1080" width="1920" msid="92499546" hostid="261" sizebytes="194614"></div>In the Solomons, the news prompted fear that Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare could call on Chinese forces to repress <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/what-is-behind-unrest-solomon-islands-2021-11-29/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">future protests</a> against his government. Neighboring countries, including <keyword id="11897977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="australia" source="Orion">Australia</keyword>, criticized the deal as a threat to the region's governance and security. US <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3000814/pentagon-press-secretary-john-f-kirby-holds-a-press-briefing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defense</a> and <a href="https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-april-18-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">diplomatic</a> officials cautioned that the deal's "broad nature" could lead to deployments of Chinese forces and "set a concerning precedent" for the region.Sogavare, who called the backlash "very insulting," said on April 20 — two days after the Biden administration announced a trip by Campbell and other officials to the region — that he had <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/20/solomon-islands-china-security-agreement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed the deal</a> and done so "guided by our national interests." The final text has not been released but Sogavare and Chinese officials deny it will lead to a Chinese military base.The White House said there had been "substantial discussion" of the deal while US officials were in Honiara and that if there were moves toward a permanent military presence or "power-projection capabilities" in the Solomons the US "would then have significant concerns and respond accordingly."China has security-related agreements with Pacific island countries, largely focused on law enforcement — Australia and <keyword id="11895805" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="new-zealand" source="Orion">New Zealand</keyword> have similar relationships — but the deal with the Solomon Islands is seen as broader in scope and as coming at a time of higher geopolitical tension.In the weeks after the Solomons deal was signed, China's outreach appear to intensify, with reports it was pursuing <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e2116b29-e58b-4fa0-8003-d28d18ddf06f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a similar deal</a> with <keyword id="14304181" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="kiribati" source="Orion">Kiribati</keyword> and its proposal of a sweeping deal with 10 Pacific countries: the Solomons, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands, Niue, and the Federated States of Micronesia.<div type="image" title="China Wang Yi Fiji Pacific Islands meeting" height="1078" width="2000" msid="92499547" hostid="261" sizebytes="146520"></div>A <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/exclusive-china-seeks-pacific-islands-policing-security-cooperation-document-2022-05-25/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">draft of the proposal</a> was circulated prior to a trip to the region by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in late May. It <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wang-yi-beijing-china-new-zealand-96f78c97071116055ebc3e7c216a0ef8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposed</a> to "strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the fields of traditional and non traditional security," to expand law-enforcement cooperation, and to cooperate on cyber security and smart technology.Leaders were wary before and after discussing their meetings with Wang.In <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22037013/letter-from-h-e-david-w-panuelo-to-pacific-island-leaders-may-20-2022-signed.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a May 20 letter</a> to 21 regional leaders, Micronesian President David Panuelo called it "the single-most game-changing proposed agreement in the Pacific in any of our lifetimes" and "demonstrative of China's intention to shift Pacific allegiances in their direction.""The Pacific needs genuine partners, not superpowers that are super-focussed on power," Fiji President Frank Bainimarama <a href="https://twitter.com/FijiPM/status/1531180835356803072" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on May 30, adding that after an "excellent meeting" with Wang, Fiji sought "stronger Chinese commitment" to trade and environmental issues.The countries ultimately <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-30/pacific-nations-shelve-region-wide-china-deal/101109614" target="_blank" rel="noopener">didn't support</a> China's proposal. The US has cast that as <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-asia-united-states-china-bangkok-de635c39e75c3b9f7603cff696421db0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reluctance</a> to engage with Beijing, but Wang <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2022/06/timor-leste-signs-four-cooperation-agreements-with-china/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> other bilateral deals while in the region, and countries there with a strong interest in development assistance <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/samoa-pm-says-pacific-can-deal-with-own-security-issues-2022-06-17/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">still see</a> economic opportunity in China.Leaders appeared "miffed" by Beijing's "abrupt" presentation of a pre-written agreement rather than discussing it first, said Charles Dunst, an expert on Asia at the Center for Strategic and <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international" source="Orion">International</keyword> Studies. Opposition to this specific pact doesn't indicate "a wholesale or final rejection of cooperation with China," Dunst told Insider.<h2>Huge challenges and strategic importance</h2><div type="image" title="Solomon Islands map" height="1270" width="2158" msid="92499548" hostid="261" sizebytes="45104"></div>China's Pacific outreach is a years-long effort to build relations and influence in the region, filling a "strategic vacuum" created by "benign neglect" of longstanding security and economic ties by the US, Australia, and New Zealand, Anna Powles, an expert on Pacific security issues at New Zealand's Massey University, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-presence-in-pacific-means-for-taiwan-expert-explains-what-2019-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Insider in October 2019</a>.As <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/defense-officials-worried-about-chinese-military-presence-in-latin-america-2022-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in other regions</a>, China seeks access to natural resources, trade, and infrastructure projects, such as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/exclusive-pacific-island-turns-australia-undersea-cable-after-spurning-china-2021-06-24/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">internet cables</a> and ports and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-plans-to-upgrade-an-airstrip-strategically-located-in-kiribati-2021-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">airfields</a>.China has also sought to expand its diplomatic ties to further isolate Taiwan — in September 2019, both <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taiwan-loses-biggest-pacific-ally-as-solomons-embraces-china-2019-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Solomons</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-sees-kiribati-ties-soon-no-word-on-space-tracking-station-2019-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kiribati</a> formally recognized Beijing — and to bolster its support in international forums.China also sees strategic value in the <keyword id="14304180" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pacific-islands" source="Orion">Pacific islands</keyword> as "<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-does-china-want-in-the-pacific-diplomatic-allies-and-strategic-footholds-184147" target="_blank" rel="noopener">footholds</a>" or "<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e2116b29-e58b-4fa0-8003-d28d18ddf06f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">perches</a>" from which to counter the US militarily. In 2018, Australian officials said Beijing had discussed <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-vanuatu-military-post-worrying-australia-us-2018-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">establishing a military presence with Vanuatu</a>, and there is concern about the military implications of other Chinese projects, including in <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/chinese-built-airport-next-door-australia-us-funded-navy-port" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Papua New Guinea</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-plans-to-upgrade-an-airstrip-strategically-located-in-kiribati-2021-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kiribati</a>.<div type="image" title="China Wang Yi Kiribati Taneti Maamau handshake Beijing" height="1333" width="2000" msid="92499549" hostid="261" sizebytes="95110"></div>The dynamic mirrors the Allied island-hopping campaign of World War II, which sought to roll back the Empire of Japan by recapturing <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/growing-chinese-influence-in-guadalcanal-worrying-the-us-and-australia-2018-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strategically located Pacific islands</a>. The historical link was underscored in early May, when the US State Department <a href="https://www.state.gov/commemorating-the-80th-anniversary-of-the-battle-of-coral-sea/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commemorated</a> the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/battle-of-the-coral-sea-world-war-ii-anniversary-2018-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a clash in the waters</a> between Australia and the Solomons that is seen as a turning point in the war."We've certainly seen sources that show that China is really interested in thinking about the Japanese approach to challenging US dominance of the Pacific," Anne-Marie Brady, a professor and expert in Chinese foreign policy at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, said at <a href="https://www.hoover.org/events/us-needs-step-pacific-facing-chinas-military-challenge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a Hoover Institution</a> event in May.Brady said that China's economic growth and military investment since the 1990s have given it the ability to begin countering the US military in the <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/feature/why-islands-still-matter-asia-15121" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pacific island chains</a>, long been seen as defensive lines against the Soviets and now the Chinese.New Zealand said in 2021 that a Chinese base "in the Pacific would fundamentally alter the strategic balance of the region," Brady said at the May event.Australia's chief of joint operations, Lt. Gen. Greg Bilton, <a href="https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/minister/peter-dutton/transcripts/press-conference-abigail-bradshaw-csc-head-acsc-and-lieutenant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in March that Chinese navy operations in the Solomons would "change the calculus" and prompt Australia's military to change its day-to-day operations, patrolling patterns, and maritime awareness activities.<div type="image" title="Australia HMAS Canberra soldiers Chinook Tonga" height="1344" width="2000" msid="92499550" hostid="261" sizebytes="153450"></div>In addition to providing better awareness of activity in the region, a more consistent Chinese military presence in the Solomons is "bound to have a political effect on the thinking of leaders in those island areas about the importance of maintaining good relations with China," Timothy Heath, a senior international defense researcher at the RAND Corporation, told Insider in April.The US and its allies have mounted a flurry of efforts to counter China's inroads. The US said in February that it would <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/us-planning-open-embassy-solomon-islands-official-2022-02-12/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reopen its embassy</a> in the Solomons, which was closed in the 1990s. Australia's foreign minister has made multiple trips to the region in since taking office in June.US military leaders have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pacific-islands-are-critical-geostrategic-ground-top-commander-says-2021-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">repeatedly underscored</a> the importance of the Pacific Islands to their operations, particularly has they try to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-studying-different-austere-bases-to-fight-in-pacific-2020-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disperse their forces</a> to counter the growing reach of China's arsenal. The US has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/exclusive-counter-china-influence-us-names-envoy-lead-pacific-island-talks-2022-03-22/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stepped up</a> efforts to renegotiate the Compacts of Free Association, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-looks-to-pacific-islands-for-presence-amid-china-competition-2020-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">its unique defense agreements with Palau, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands</a> that expire in 2023 and 2024, holding an in-person <a href="https://twitter.com/CleoPaskal/status/1537591557037010945" target="_blank" rel="noopener">meeting</a> with the Marshall Islands in mid-June.Time and distance has kept the US Navy from maintaining a significant presence among the Pacific Islands but it is looking to strengthen and expand its ties there, with a particular eye toward logistics support, according to Vice Adm. William Merz, who commanded the Japan-based 7th Fleet from 2019 to 2021."The rising tensions, especially in that region, has certainly created a whole new level of enthusiasm for more and more players to participate with the US, and we're trying to take advantage of that," Merz said at a defense industry conference in February 2022.<div type="image" title="US sailors Tinian harbor" height="1333" width="2000" msid="92499552" hostid="261" sizebytes="392498"></div>US commanders say Pacific islanders are interested in greater collaboration, in part out of concern about China, but the region's leaders also stress a desire to avoid conflict and to focus on pressing issues, specifically the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/76-years-after-wwii-battle-tarawa-marines-still-being-identified-2019-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">existential threat of climate change</a>."In Fiji, we are not threatened by geopolitical competition," Fiji's defense minister said at the Shangri-La Dialogue in June. "In our Blue Pacific continent, machine guns, fighter jets, grey ships, and green battalions are not our primary security concern. The single greatest threat to our very existence is climate change."The US appears to be taking "tangible steps" in the region, Dunst said in early June, pointing to a need for more non-military engagement, better alignment with Australia and New Zealand, and to make clear the US's long-term interest in the region outside the context of US-China competition.On June 24, the US, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Japan <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/06/24/statement-by-australia-japan-new-zealand-the-united-kingdom-and-the-united-states-on-the-establishment-of-the-partners-in-the-blue-pacific-pbp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the Partners in the Blue Pacific initiative to support the region "according to principles of Pacific regionalism, sovereignty, transparency, accountability, and most of all, led and guided by the Pacific Islands."In a speech prior to the announcement, Kurt Campbell underscored the US's historical ties to the Pacific and stressed the importance engaging with and supporting those countries and their region, vowing more high-level US outreach and delivery of "public goods.""There is a general recognition that this is a region of not only moral responsibility and huge challenges — environmental and the like — but it's of strategic importance," Campbell said. "I think it will be important for us to demonstrate that as we go forward."

The US and its allies are scrambling to respond to China's intensifying moves in the heart of the Pacific

<ul class="summary-list"><li>During the first half of 2022, <keyword id="11892748" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="china" source="Orion">China</keyword> has intensified its outreach to Pacific Island nations.</li><li>China's inroads have alarmed the US and its allies in the region, which see Beijing as going for a strategic advantage.</li></ul>In the five months since one of President Joe Biden's top advisers warned that the Pacific was likely where the US could see a "strategic surprise" from China, Beijing has stepped up its overtures to the small but important islands of the region, prompting the US and its allies to scramble in response to growing Chinese influence.Kurt Campbell, the coordinator for <keyword id="12054992" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="indo-pacific" source="Orion">Indo-Pacific</keyword> on the National Security Council, told a think-tank audience in January that such a surprise — consisting of "basing or certain kinds of agreements or arrangements" — was a top concern "over the next year or two."That concern was given form in late March with the leak of a draft "<a href="https://twitter.com/AnnaPowles/status/1506845794728837120" target="_blank" rel="noopener">security cooperation</a>" agreement between China and the <keyword id="12279524" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="solomon-islands" source="Orion">Solomon Islands</keyword>, which said the Solomons could ask China to send police and military personnel "to assist in maintaining social order" and that China could, with permission, make "ship visits" and send "relevant forces" to protect Chinese interests — potentially giving China's military a toehold in the South Pacific.<div type="image" title="China navy ship Tonga" height="1080" width="1920" msid="92501094" hostid="261" sizebytes="194614"></div>In the Solomons, the news prompted fear that Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare could call on Chinese forces to repress <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/what-is-behind-unrest-solomon-islands-2021-11-29/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">future protests</a> against his government. Neighboring countries, including <keyword id="11897977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="australia" source="Orion">Australia</keyword>, criticized the deal as a threat to the region's governance and security. US <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3000814/pentagon-press-secretary-john-f-kirby-holds-a-press-briefing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defense</a> and <a href="https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-april-18-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">diplomatic</a> officials cautioned that the deal's "broad nature" could lead to deployments of Chinese forces and "set a concerning precedent" for the region.Sogavare, who called the backlash "very insulting," said on April 20 — two days after the Biden administration announced a trip by Campbell and other officials to the region — that he had <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/20/solomon-islands-china-security-agreement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed the deal</a> and done so "guided by our national interests." The final text has not been released but Sogavare and Chinese officials deny it will lead to a Chinese military base.The White House said there had been "substantial discussion" of the deal while US officials were in Honiara and that if there were moves toward a permanent military presence or "power-projection capabilities" in the Solomons the US "would then have significant concerns and respond accordingly."China has security-related agreements with Pacific island countries, largely focused on law enforcement — Australia and <keyword id="11895805" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="new-zealand" source="Orion">New Zealand</keyword> have similar relationships — but the deal with the Solomon Islands is seen as broader in scope and as coming at a time of higher geopolitical tension.In the weeks after the Solomons deal was signed, China's outreach appear to intensify, with reports it was pursuing <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e2116b29-e58b-4fa0-8003-d28d18ddf06f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a similar deal</a> with <keyword id="14304181" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="kiribati" source="Orion">Kiribati</keyword> and its proposal of a sweeping deal with 10 Pacific countries: the Solomons, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands, Niue, and the Federated States of Micronesia.<div type="image" title="China Wang Yi Fiji Pacific Islands meeting" height="1078" width="2000" msid="92501096" hostid="261" sizebytes="146520"></div>A <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/exclusive-china-seeks-pacific-islands-policing-security-cooperation-document-2022-05-25/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">draft of the proposal</a> was circulated prior to a trip to the region by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in late May. It <a href="https://apnews.com/article/wang-yi-beijing-china-new-zealand-96f78c97071116055ebc3e7c216a0ef8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposed</a> to "strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the fields of traditional and non traditional security," to expand law-enforcement cooperation, and to cooperate on cyber security and smart technology.Leaders were wary before and after discussing their meetings with Wang.In <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22037013/letter-from-h-e-david-w-panuelo-to-pacific-island-leaders-may-20-2022-signed.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a May 20 letter</a> to 21 regional leaders, Micronesian President David Panuelo called it "the single-most game-changing proposed agreement in the Pacific in any of our lifetimes" and "demonstrative of China's intention to shift Pacific allegiances in their direction.""The Pacific needs genuine partners, not superpowers that are super-focussed on power," Fiji President Frank Bainimarama <a href="https://twitter.com/FijiPM/status/1531180835356803072" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on May 30, adding that after an "excellent meeting" with Wang, Fiji sought "stronger Chinese commitment" to trade and environmental issues.The countries ultimately <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-30/pacific-nations-shelve-region-wide-china-deal/101109614" target="_blank" rel="noopener">didn't support</a> China's proposal. The US has cast that as <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-asia-united-states-china-bangkok-de635c39e75c3b9f7603cff696421db0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reluctance</a> to engage with Beijing, but Wang <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2022/06/timor-leste-signs-four-cooperation-agreements-with-china/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> other bilateral deals while in the region, and countries there with a strong interest in development assistance <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/samoa-pm-says-pacific-can-deal-with-own-security-issues-2022-06-17/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">still see</a> economic opportunity in China.Leaders appeared "miffed" by Beijing's "abrupt" presentation of a pre-written agreement rather than discussing it first, said Charles Dunst, an expert on Asia at the Center for Strategic and <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international" source="Orion">International</keyword> Studies. Opposition to this specific pact doesn't indicate "a wholesale or final rejection of cooperation with China," Dunst told Insider.<h2>Huge challenges and strategic importance</h2><div type="image" title="Solomon Islands map" height="1270" width="2158" msid="92501098" hostid="261" sizebytes="45104"></div>China's Pacific outreach is a years-long effort to build relations and influence in the region, filling a "strategic vacuum" created by "benign neglect" of longstanding security and economic ties by the US, Australia, and New Zealand, Anna Powles, an expert on Pacific security issues at New Zealand's Massey University, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-presence-in-pacific-means-for-taiwan-expert-explains-what-2019-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Insider in October 2019</a>.As <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/defense-officials-worried-about-chinese-military-presence-in-latin-america-2022-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in other regions</a>, China seeks access to natural resources, trade, and infrastructure projects, such as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/exclusive-pacific-island-turns-australia-undersea-cable-after-spurning-china-2021-06-24/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">internet cables</a> and ports and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-plans-to-upgrade-an-airstrip-strategically-located-in-kiribati-2021-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">airfields</a>.China has also sought to expand its diplomatic ties to further isolate Taiwan — in September 2019, both <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/taiwan-loses-biggest-pacific-ally-as-solomons-embraces-china-2019-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Solomons</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-sees-kiribati-ties-soon-no-word-on-space-tracking-station-2019-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kiribati</a> formally recognized Beijing — and to bolster its support in international forums.China also sees strategic value in the <keyword id="14304180" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pacific-islands" source="Orion">Pacific islands</keyword> as "<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-does-china-want-in-the-pacific-diplomatic-allies-and-strategic-footholds-184147" target="_blank" rel="noopener">footholds</a>" or "<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e2116b29-e58b-4fa0-8003-d28d18ddf06f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">perches</a>" from which to counter the US militarily. In 2018, Australian officials said Beijing had discussed <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-vanuatu-military-post-worrying-australia-us-2018-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">establishing a military presence with Vanuatu</a>, and there is concern about the military implications of other Chinese projects, including in <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/chinese-built-airport-next-door-australia-us-funded-navy-port" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Papua New Guinea</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-plans-to-upgrade-an-airstrip-strategically-located-in-kiribati-2021-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kiribati</a>.<div type="image" title="China Wang Yi Kiribati Taneti Maamau handshake Beijing" height="1333" width="2000" msid="92501099" hostid="261" sizebytes="95110"></div>The dynamic mirrors the Allied island-hopping campaign of World War II, which sought to roll back the Empire of Japan by recapturing <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/growing-chinese-influence-in-guadalcanal-worrying-the-us-and-australia-2018-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strategically located Pacific islands</a>. The historical link was underscored in early May, when the US State Department <a href="https://www.state.gov/commemorating-the-80th-anniversary-of-the-battle-of-coral-sea/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commemorated</a> the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/battle-of-the-coral-sea-world-war-ii-anniversary-2018-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a clash in the waters</a> between Australia and the Solomons that is seen as a turning point in the war."We've certainly seen sources that show that China is really interested in thinking about the Japanese approach to challenging US dominance of the Pacific," Anne-Marie Brady, a professor and expert in Chinese foreign policy at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, said at <a href="https://www.hoover.org/events/us-needs-step-pacific-facing-chinas-military-challenge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a Hoover Institution</a> event in May.Brady said that China's economic growth and military investment since the 1990s have given it the ability to begin countering the US military in the <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/feature/why-islands-still-matter-asia-15121" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pacific island chains</a>, long been seen as defensive lines against the Soviets and now the Chinese.New Zealand said in 2021 that a Chinese base "in the Pacific would fundamentally alter the strategic balance of the region," Brady said at the May event.Australia's chief of joint operations, Lt. Gen. Greg Bilton, <a href="https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/minister/peter-dutton/transcripts/press-conference-abigail-bradshaw-csc-head-acsc-and-lieutenant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in March that Chinese navy operations in the Solomons would "change the calculus" and prompt Australia's military to change its day-to-day operations, patrolling patterns, and maritime awareness activities.<div type="image" title="Australia HMAS Canberra soldiers Chinook Tonga" height="1344" width="2000" msid="92501101" hostid="261" sizebytes="153450"></div>In addition to providing better awareness of activity in the region, a more consistent Chinese military presence in the Solomons is "bound to have a political effect on the thinking of leaders in those island areas about the importance of maintaining good relations with China," Timothy Heath, a senior international defense researcher at the RAND Corporation, told Insider in April.The US and its allies have mounted a flurry of efforts to counter China's inroads. The US said in February that it would <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/us-planning-open-embassy-solomon-islands-official-2022-02-12/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reopen its embassy</a> in the Solomons, which was closed in the 1990s. Australia's foreign minister has made multiple trips to the region in since taking office in June.US military leaders have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pacific-islands-are-critical-geostrategic-ground-top-commander-says-2021-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">repeatedly underscored</a> the importance of the Pacific Islands to their operations, particularly has they try to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-studying-different-austere-bases-to-fight-in-pacific-2020-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disperse their forces</a> to counter the growing reach of China's arsenal. The US has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/exclusive-counter-china-influence-us-names-envoy-lead-pacific-island-talks-2022-03-22/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stepped up</a> efforts to renegotiate the Compacts of Free Association, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-looks-to-pacific-islands-for-presence-amid-china-competition-2020-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">its unique defense agreements with Palau, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands</a> that expire in 2023 and 2024, holding an in-person <a href="https://twitter.com/CleoPaskal/status/1537591557037010945" target="_blank" rel="noopener">meeting</a> with the Marshall Islands in mid-June.Time and distance has kept the US Navy from maintaining a significant presence among the Pacific Islands but it is looking to strengthen and expand its ties there, with a particular eye toward logistics support, according to Vice Adm. William Merz, who commanded the Japan-based 7th Fleet from 2019 to 2021."The rising tensions, especially in that region, has certainly created a whole new level of enthusiasm for more and more players to participate with the US, and we're trying to take advantage of that," Merz said at a defense industry conference in February 2022.<div type="image" title="US sailors Tinian harbor" height="1333" width="2000" msid="92501103" hostid="261" sizebytes="392498"></div>US commanders say Pacific islanders are interested in greater collaboration, in part out of concern about China, but the region's leaders also stress a desire to avoid conflict and to focus on pressing issues, specifically the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/76-years-after-wwii-battle-tarawa-marines-still-being-identified-2019-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">existential threat of climate change</a>."In Fiji, we are not threatened by geopolitical competition," Fiji's defense minister said at the Shangri-La Dialogue in June. "In our Blue Pacific continent, machine guns, fighter jets, grey ships, and green battalions are not our primary security concern. The single greatest threat to our very existence is climate change."The US appears to be taking "tangible steps" in the region, Dunst said in early June, pointing to a need for more non-military engagement, better alignment with Australia and New Zealand, and to make clear the US's long-term interest in the region outside the context of US-China competition.On June 24, the US, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and Japan <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/06/24/statement-by-australia-japan-new-zealand-the-united-kingdom-and-the-united-states-on-the-establishment-of-the-partners-in-the-blue-pacific-pbp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the Partners in the Blue Pacific initiative to support the region "according to principles of Pacific regionalism, sovereignty, transparency, accountability, and most of all, led and guided by the Pacific Islands."In a speech prior to the announcement, Kurt Campbell underscored the US's historical ties to the Pacific and stressed the importance engaging with and supporting those countries and their region, vowing more high-level US outreach and delivery of "public goods.""There is a general recognition that this is a region of not only moral responsibility and huge challenges — environmental and the like — but it's of strategic importance," Campbell said. "I think it will be important for us to demonstrate that as we go forward."

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