Washington — The United States, boosted by allies and the private sector, is delivering for Pacific islands even if Washington alone cannot match China's growing footprint, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late Friday.
Blinken spoke after lawmakers in the Solomon Islands, whose warming security relationship with China has sparked alarm in the United States and Australia, choose another Beijing-friendly prime minister.
"China covers a lot of ground in the Pacific Islands, maybe more ground than we can cover ourselves," Blinken told the McCain Institute's Sedona Forum in Arizona.
But he said that by partnering with like-minded Australia, New Zealand,
webdesk@voanews.com (Agence France-Presse)
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