Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell acknowledged in a telephone interview from Washington that “too often the Pacific gets short shrift” being included with Asia.
But Campbell said the upcoming visit involving U.S. diplomats, defense and aid officials is a sign of “our commitment to work together on issues affecting the lives of people in the Pacific.”
Campbell was joined in a teleconference interview to promote the whirlwind tour by Adm. Patrick Walsh, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Gen. Richard Simcock, II, deputy assistant secretary of East Asian Pacific Affairs at the Defense Department, and U.S. Agency for International Development assistant administrator Nisha Biswal — all of whom will briefly visit Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.
The trip is a “whole of government approach that we have found to be very successful,” Walsh said. “This is a great opportunity to let people in the region know how important (the region is to the U.S.),” Simcock said.
“The United States wants to step up its engagement in Asia and the Pacific,” Campbell said. He described the Pacific as “a key arena” in the 21st century.
Biswal said the delegation will be looking at climate change concerns in the Pacific with a focus of discussion on “adaption and mitigation programs.
We will engage in a substantive way on climate change.”
Testing Washington’s engagement in the region in a time of huge budget deficits is a recently concluded treaty between Palau and the U.S. that is now with the U.S. Senate for review. Palau is one of three north Pacific nations, all former colonies of the United States, that enjoy close relations with the U.S. and substantial injection of aid from Washington.
The Senate’s review of the Compact of Free Association for Palau comes “at a delicate time” because it requires long-term U.S. aid at a time of “large issues with the (U.S.) budget,” Campbell said. The Obama administration is working to secure its passage through the Senate eight years after the Senate endorsed two similar compacts with the Marshall Islands and Micronesia that provide several billion dollars over the 20-year treaties. “We recognize our historical and moral commitments to the region, and we’ve made this clear to the players on Capitol Hill.”
The lack of a democratically elected government in Fiji continues to concern Washington, Campbell said. But he said the U.S. looked to Australia and New Zealand to “take the lead” on Fiji issues. “We’re concerned with what we see and have maintained sanctions,” he said.
“We’d like to see a democratic government returned.”
