America is lavishing attention on Pacific island states

THERE ARE two ways of looking at the security pact that Antony Blinken, America’s secretary of state, signed with the prime minister of Papua New Guinea (PNG), James Marape, on May 22nd. The obvious one is as further evidence of the great-power contest between America and China that is playing out in ever-expanding ripples across the Pacific Ocean. In that contest, America had, by its own reckoning, previously neglected the role of Pacific island states, of which PNG, a diverse land with 10m people, is by far the biggest.

America is now making amends. It opened an embassy in the Solomon Islands and Tonga, and has plans to do so in Kiribati and Vanuatu. While in Port Moresby, PNG’s capital, Mr Blinken also signed renewed “compacts of free association” with Micronesia and Palau, island states between PNG and America’s dependency of Guam. A renewed compact with the Marshall Islands will follow. These states hand over their defence exclusively to America in return for aid guarantees and other benefits.