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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will host the Partners in the Blue Pacific (PBP) countries on Thursday with the aim of better coordinating assistance to the region in the face of competition from China, a White House official said.
The group was formed in June and includes the United States, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. India has an observer status with the PBP, White House Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell said in remarks at an event in New York. A few other countries would join too, he said.
Campbell said circumstances for the Pacific islands countries were “much more dire” than in the past.
“Their livelihoods are threatened,” he said, pointing to the “existential” threat they face from climate change and the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism revenue and business.
“Much of the assistance in the Pacific is not as well coordinated as it could be.
