Fiji has joined the United States’ Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), the White House has announced.
The move makes Fiji the first Pacific Island nation in the IPEF, a US strategy to push back on China’s growing influence in the region.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in the Pacific last week with a 10-country deal on security and trade in tow.
Wang’s visit to the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga and virtual talks with the leaders of Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea, Niue and the Marshall Islands has unnerved the US and its Pacific allies New Zealand and Australia.
Beijing has excluded New Zealand, Australia and Pacific Island nations Tuvalu and Nauru – both recognise Taiwan and don’t have diplomatic relations with China – from any discussions
US National Security adviser Jake Sullivan welcomed Fiji as a founding member of the IPEF, which now includes countries from Northeast and Southeast Asia, South Asia, Oceania and the Pacific.
“Across geography, we are united in our commitment to a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region,” Sullivan said in a statement. “Fiji will add vital value to IPEF, including our efforts to tackle the climate crisis and build a clean economy that creates good paying jobs.”
With Fiji’s support, the IPEF represented the full regional diversity of the Indo-Pacific, Sullivan said. President Joe Biden launched the IPEF during his first trip as US leader to Asia.
Fiji is the 14th country to join the IPEF talks, which do not include China. Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said he appreciated Biden’s commitment towards the Pacific’s prosperity.
“Today, I accepted the invitation extended by the US for Fiji to become a founding member of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework,” he tweeted on Friday. “As the first Pacific island onboard, we will show how climate-conscious jobs, trade, and investment can improve lives without imperilling our future. Our greatest concern isn’t geopolitics, it’s climate change.”
When asked about Fiji joining the IPEF, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told journalists in Beijing last week that the Asia-Pacific region “should not become a geopolitical chessboard”.
The US engagement with Asia-Pacific had reportedly lacked support since former president Donald Trump quit a multinational trans-Pacific trade agreement over US jobs.
Trade experts had expressed scepticism about the IPEF over concerns that Washington was unlikely to offer increased market access for Asia-Pacific.
But Sullivan said the IPEF would include enforceable agreements that would benefit the region.
The other IPEF members are New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
