Photo/Illutration Leaders pose for a photo at the Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting in Tokyo’s Minato Ward on July 18. (Kazushige Kobayashi)

The island nations scattered across the Pacific on both sides of the equator far to the southeast of Japan are the front lines of Washington and Beijing’s competition for influence.

Those island countries, however, harbor a strong sense of alarm about being embroiled in big power rivalry over hegemony.

Japan should distance itself from that development and focus on staying close to the region by forging ties with those nations.

The heads and other representatives of 18 Pacific countries and regions ended a three-day session in Tokyo of the Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting, or PALM, on July 18.

The summit, which has been held at Japan’s initiative every three years since 1997, met for a landmark 10th time on this occasion.

A leaders’ declaration, adopted during the meeting, confirmed close collaboration in line with a common strategy for the target year of 2050 conceived by the Pacific island nations in 2022.

Also released was a joint action plan outlining specific actions to be undertaken over the next three years in seven priority areas, including “peace and security,” “resources and economic development” and “climate change and disasters.”

The documents featured, among other things, a plan to improve on disaster risk reduction and response capabilities through the use of Japan’s satellite data to deal with climate change, which some island nations define as the “single greatest existential threat” to them due to rising sea levels.

There is no doubt, that the presence of China, which is increasing its clout, is in the background of Japan’s focus on its ties with this region.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pointed out during a joint news conference that the region’s environment has changed significantly since the PALM was inaugurated 27 years ago and is now “facing complicated challenges.”

He cited confirmation of “collaboration toward regional peace and prosperity” as an achievement of the latest summit.

A statement in the leaders’ declaration referred to “strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by the ... use of force or coercion,” even though the document stopped short of naming China.

The joint action plan referred to strengthening defense exchanges through port calls by aircraft and vessels operated by Japan’s  Self-Defense Forces.

Washington and Beijing are currently vying to strengthen their ties with this region by gaining a firmer footing there.

China signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands in 2022 and has also sent a group of police experts to Vanuatu.

The United States, for its part, held meetings with leaders of Pacific island countries in Washington in 2022 and 2023 and also opened embassies in the Solomon Islands and Tonga.

The island nations presumably find assistance from outside countries useful for their own development, but likely don’t want it to create a divide in their region.

It should not be forgotten the “2050 Strategy” was worked out, in the first place, with the object of maintaining regional integrity.

What is important for Japan here is to draw on its track record of down-to-earth livelihood assistance programs that it has been providing in this region over many years.

Tokyo should be forging ties with the region’s countries as an equal partner and from a long-term perspective without pushing the logic of a big power on them.

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 19

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