The US has locked in the first Pacific islands nation to support its Indo-Pacific economic strategy in a blow to Beijing, as the Biden administration’s top diplomat branded China’s behaviour as “deeply destabilising”.
Amid Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s influence-building visit to eight Pacific nations, the White House announced Fiji would become a founding member of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), joining Australia, Japan, Indonesia and nine other countries in the pact.
