U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell is set to travel to Tonga next week to lead the U.S. delegation at the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders meeting and promote U.S.-Pacific partnership goals. Following his visit to Tonga on August 28, Campbell will proceed to Vanuatu where he will dedicate the United States’ newest overseas mission, Embassy Port Vila. On August 30, he will then head to Auckland for the United States-New Zealand Strategic Dialogue and discussions on technology.
According to the State Department, these engagements in Tonga, Vanuatu, and New Zealand are part of a series of high-level visits by senior U.S. officials in the region. The United States has been prioritizing peacekeeping efforts in this area due to increased military presence and aggression from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which has significant implications for international trade and world order.
In 2022, the federal government released its first U.S. Pacific Partnership Strategy as a renewed effort to engage with Pacific island nations that are being aggressively courted by China. Last year, a PIF leaders’ summit was hosted at the White House as a further demonstration of this commitment.
Earlier this year, Tonga expressed openness towards accepting an offer from China’s CCP to send police officers for security assistance during this year’s PIF event. However, it remains unclear whether Tonga has officially accepted Beijing’s offer as there has been no immediate response from their government.
Tonga currently owes China approximately $160 million in debt incurred from loans provided in 2008 and 2010 after pro-Democracy riots devastated their central business district in 2006. Repayment is expected by 2028 but negotiations for debt restructuring have been declined by CCP officials so far.
This loan agreement highlights what experts refer to as China’s “debt-trap diplomacy,” where large loans are issued for foreign infrastructure projects with repayment plans based on optimistic projections of project success.
Vanuatu also benefited from Chinese funding with its new multi-million dollar presidential palace being one such example. Shortly after attending its opening earlier this summer, Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai visited China where both nations issued a joint statement welcoming Vanuatu into China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Coincidentally or not, just ten days later saw the opening of the U.S embassy in Vanuatu that Deputy Secretary Campbell will be dedicating next week.
Campbell is recognized as an influential figure shaping American policy in the Indo-Pacific region due to his extensive experience serving under multiple administrations including Obama’s “pivot-to-Asia” strategy aimed at rebalancing diplomatic and military resources towards Asia-Pacific countries.