(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. is expanding a program to help South Pacific nations improve intelligence gathering, a top military official said, as China has increased its influence among small island countries.
Concerns are rising that Beijing's leaders are seeking to win through coercion the allegiance of islands typically aligned with the U.S., Admiral Philip Davidson, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told a security forum in Singapore Saturday. The region played a key role in World War II and remains strategically important as Western powers seek to maintain open sea lines and stability.
China has stepped up state-directed economic investment into the Pacific islands region, which is home to more than a dozen nations including Fiji, Niue and Nauru scattered across thousands of miles of ocean. That has prompted the U.S. and its close ally Australia to step up engagement with those countries. The U.S. is adding more defense attaches in the region, Davidson said.
“America has expanded its maritime security initiative for the South Pacific,” Davidson said. “This is a proven program to improve patrol craft and increase intelligence gathering, train our partners, and share information to support sovereign enforcement of exclusive economic zones.”
Davidson also brought up environmental concerns, including illegal and unregulated fishing that is depleting ocean stocks and causing environmental degradation.
Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan ripped into China at the gathering earlier in the day, saying Beijing is behind bad behavior that “sows distrust” in Asia. Still, he also said the U.S. and China would eventually resolve their differences, downplaying the significance of escalating trade tensions.
To contact the reporters on this story: Iain Marlow in New Delhi at imarlow1@bloomberg.net;Philip J. Heijmans in Singapore at pheijmans1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net, Jon Herskovitz
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