I am not sure but I think this trip has been canceled, but the other day, I came across a bookmark I had made about a month ago on an article that explained how Biden is expected to meet 18 Pacific leaders in Papua New Guinea in May. Now before I go further, the term Pacific here does not refer to Indo-Pacific, but to the Pacific Island-states such a Papua New Guinea. In the process of announcing this visit, a US special envoy - whose name I could not find - said that the US is playing ‘catch-up’ to China, after years of neglect.
This past April, we also witnessed Kamala Harris, the US Vice-President visit 3 African nations: Ghana, Zambia, and Tanzania; With yet another US statesman, Thomas Sheehy, declaring something to the tune that US is finally waking up to the opportunities presented by Africa, and it is/should be engaging in Africa to give alternative choices to the African nations, who have been courted heavily by China.
I must admit, these two news disturb me quite a bit, and I will try to explain why. You see, we don’t stop hearing how China is this bad and mean country that sucks the blood out of other countries, and is aggressive. Yet the US is trying to play catch-up to them to challenge them in these regions that it has ignored for decades. In other words, the US only cares about these countries because it sees that China is building relationships with them. It does not, and has not, really cared about their well-being and development. If China had not come in with its Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) and other investments, the US was happy letting these countries stay poor and under-developed!
So much for a caring, peace-loving, development-supporting world leading country!
Paris, May 18, 2023
Zeejay