US to Open Embassy in Vanuatu in Latest Move to Counter Beijing Influence

Screenshot showing location of Vanuatu, located near Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, and Fiji. Screenshot/USGS

The United States plans to open an embassy in the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu, its latest move to boost diplomatic relations in the region in response to Beijing’s growing influence.

“Consistent with the U.S. Indo–Pacific strategy, a permanent diplomatic presence in Vanuatu would allow the U.S. Government to deepen relationships with Ni-Vanuatu officials and society,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

“Establishing U.S. Embassy Port Vila would facilitate areas of potential bilateral cooperation and development assistance, including efforts to tackle the climate crisis.”

The United States currently maintains diplomatic relations with Vanuatu through its ambassador based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Vanuatu has a population of almost 320,000 people spread across 13 principal islands and 70 other smaller islands.

An aerial view of Erakor island and the coastline of Port Vila, Vanuatu, on Dec. 7, 2019. Mario Tama/Getty Images

The move comes as part of the Pacific Islands Embassies Act, finalized at the end of 2022, which aims to expand the United States’ presence in the Pacific Island region.

Under the legislation, embassies have also been set up in Kiribati and Tonga. The U.S. Embassy in the Solomon Islands has been reopened as well.

The previous U.S. Embassy in the Solomon Islands was closed in 1993 following budget cuts and, like Vanuatu, was represented through its Papua New Guinea-based ambassador.

“The opening of the embassy builds on our efforts not only to place more diplomatic personnel throughout the region but also to engage further with our Pacific neighbors, connect United States programs and resources with needs on the ground, and build people-to-people ties,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Feb. 1.

Huge Indo-Pacific Push

Other moves in the Pacific region include signing a memorandum of understanding with the Federated States of Micronesia and pledging at least $7 billion in funding for the Marshall Islands, Palau, and Micronesia.

These three nations are called the “Freely Associated States” (FAS), and their citizens are eligible to work and live indefinitely in the United States.

It also allows the island nations access to U.S. domestic economic programs and allows the United States to operate defense bases in these nations. FAS citizens are also allowed to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces.

FAS countries have complained that assistance hasn’t kept pace with U.S. obligations. While the nations still enjoy close ties to Washington, critics warn that a failure to reach new terms could spur them to look to China’s communist regime for funding or increased trade and tourism.

The U.S. Institute of Peace, a federally funded think tank, said in a September 2022 report that Beijing perceives the “limited” U.S. engagement as a strategic void in the Pacific Island region and has been open about its intentions to fill it.

“Even a modest increase in diplomatic resources is likely to meet with an enthusiastic reception from regional officials,” the report reads.

The Chinese communist regime has been successful in getting most Pacific Island nations to switch diplomatic affiliation to Beijing from Taipei, the most recent being the Solomon Islands and Kiribati in 2019.

The Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, and Tuvalu are the four remaining Pacific Island nations that maintain official diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

President David Panuelo of the Federated States of Micronesia speaks during the Pacific Parliamentary and Political Leaders Forum at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, on April 18, 2013. Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

Micronesia’s leader has proposed that his nation switch ties to Taiwan from Beijing, accusing the Chinese regime of waging “political warfare” and making “direct threats” to his safety.

In a leaked 13-page letter to the Micronesian Congress, President David Panuelo claimed that Chinese officials acting in an official capacity had made direct threats against his safety.

He also alleged that Beijing is attempting to undermine Micronesia’s sovereignty to ensure that it would either side with Beijing or remain neutral in a potential conflict over Taiwan, a self-governed nation.

“One of the reasons that China’s political warfare is successful in so many arenas is that we are bribed to be complicit and bribed to be silent. That’s a heavy word, but it is an accurate description regardless,” Panuelo said.

“It is at this point that I relay, simply as a point of information, that 39 out of 50 members of parliament in the Solomon Islands received payments from China prior to their vote on postponing elections that were otherwise scheduled for this year.”

Shift From China to Allies

The Biden administration has indicated that it has switched its focus from communicating with Beijing to working closely with allies.

Kurt Campbell, the National Security Council coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs, said the United States recognized that the “most important step” was how it could work with allies and partners.

“The idea here is not to in any way challenge China or surround China but to protect our interests and to make sure that through common effort we are able to stabilize and strengthen the elements of this system, which we think have benefited all,” he said on March 30.

The shift comes after the long-standing foreign policy theory that communicating directly with Beijing would create change throughout Asia has been proven wrong.

Campbell said efforts to convince the Chinese regime to adopt more liberal and less authoritarian policies have failed.

“[The new theory] believes that the more effective framework was to work with allies and partners to create a larger context for then engaging China more directly,” Campbell said.

“That’s what President Biden has sought to do. To work on it with our existing bilateral engagements but also with new partners.”

Aldgra Fredly contributed to this report.