'China is learning very quickly': Why the historic US-Pacific partnership hasn't dashed Beijing's hopes

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says respect for their sovereignty was likely among the reasons why Pacific leaders accepted an offer of partnership from the US, after earlier shelving China's. "For many Pacific countries emerging from COVID, fighting climate change and with increased debt, we would be looking for support from all corners," Mr Brown told the ABC's Pacific Beat program. Last week, Cook Islands was among the 14 Pacific Island states that endorsed the historic joint declaration with the US, in an attempt by Washington to counter China's increasing influence in the region. Mr Manele said Solomon Islands welcomed "The US re-engagement with the Pacific" but he also reiterated the nation's support for China. Not a clear-cut win for the US, says expert Tarcisius Kabutaulaka - an associate professor at the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawaii - said he believed the Pacific nations had been in discussions with the US long before last week's leaders' summit in Washington. "That's different to China, who came to the talks trying to push its development and security pact with Pacific Island countries without that background work."I would assume that some of that had been taking place not only when the leaders were in New York for the UN General Assembly, but perhaps even before that. "A lot of China's past engagements have been bilateral and, recently, we've seen China ramping up its multilateral engagements through the Pacific Island foreign ministers' meeting and the Pacific Islands Forum.