UNITED STATES NEWS

Blinken heads to Tonga, New Zealand, Australia as US shifts Indo-Pacific strategy into overdrive

Jul 20, 2023, 9:03 AM

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to reporters at the State Department in Washington, Monday...

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to reporters at the State Department in Washington, Monday, July 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Tonga, New Zealand and Australia next week as the Biden administration shifts its Indo-Pacific strategy into overdrive in part to counter China’s growing influence in the region.

The State Department said Thursday that Blinken will dedicate a new U.S. embassy in the Tongan capital of Nukuʻalofa on July 26 before heading to Wellington, New Zealand, where he will attend the women’s World Cup match between the U.S. and the Netherlands.

Blinken will then have meetings with New Zealand officials and move on to Brisbane, Australia, for meetings with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Australian counterparts on July 28-29.

The trip will be Blinken’s third to Asia in the past two months — following a visit to China last month and a visit to Indonesia for talks with Southeast Asian officials just last week. And, it comes as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and climate envoy John Kerry have recently wrapped up their own trips to China. Second gentleman Douglas Emhoff is currently in New Zealand for the World Cup and will be making a side trip to Samoa in the coming days.

Blinken’s travel was announced a week after the State Department notified Congress that it plans a massive increase in diplomatic personnel and spending for facilities at new U.S. embassies in the Pacific islands. The boost in the U.S. presence in the Pacific is in response to China’s increasing assertiveness there.

The update to Congress, which was obtained by The Associated Press, pointed out that China has permanent diplomatic facilities in eight of the 12 Pacific island nations that the United States recognizes and said the U.S. needs to catch up.

The department told lawmakers that it envisions hiring up to 40 staffers over the next five years for each of four recently opened or soon-to-be-opened embassies in the Pacific.

Those include the embassy in embassy in Nuku’alofa, an embassy in Honiara, Solomon Islands, that opened in January; and planned embassies in Port Vila, Vanuatu, and in Tarawa, Kiribati. Currently there are only two temporary American staffers each in Honiara and Nuku’alofa.

At each of those posts, the department said it will spend at least $10 million for start-up, design and construction costs.

United States News

Associated Press

Kidnapped teen rescued from Southern California motel room after 4 days of being held hostage

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) — Authorities rescued a 17-year-old boy in Southern California after he was kidnapped and held hostage for four days by captors who threatened to harm him if his family did not pay a $500,000 ransom. The teen was rescued Friday after law enforcement tracked him and his three kidnappers to a […]

53 minutes ago

This Aug. 17, 2021 photo shows Quagga mussels cover the engine of a Bell P-39 Airacobra military pl...

Associated Press

Historians race to find Great Lakes shipwrecks before quagga mussels destroy the sites

An invasive mussel is destroying shipwrecks deep in the depths of the lakes, forcing archeologists and amateur historians into a race against time to find as many sites as they can before the region touching eight U.S. states and the Canadian province of Ontario loses any physical trace of its centuries-long maritime history.

1 hour ago

A sign marks a roadside rest stop that has been made to look like the historic security gate that a...

Associated Press

Birthplace of the atomic bomb braces for its biggest mission since the top-secret Manhattan Project

Los Alamos was the perfect spot for the U.S. government’s top-secret Manhattan Project.

5 hours ago

Associated Press

Suspect arrested after shooting at the Oklahoma State Fair injures 1, police say

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — One person was injured when shots were fired during an argument between two groups of people at the Oklahoma State Fair on Saturday, sending a crowd of people running for safety, police said. One person was arrested on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon after the evening shooting, Oklahoma […]

7 hours ago

Associated Press

Former NHL player Nicolas Kerdiles dies after a motorcycle crash in Nashville. He was 29

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Former NHL player Nicolas Kerdiles died Saturday after a motorcycle crash in Nashville, according to police. He was 29. The one-time hockey player for the Anaheim Ducks drove his motorcycle through a stop sign early Saturday and hit the driver’s side of an SUV, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department. […]

8 hours ago

Associated Press

Hazing lawsuit filed against University of Alabama fraternity

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — A student and his parents have filed a lawsuit against a University of Alabama fraternity, saying he suffered a traumatic brain injury while being hazed as a fraternity pledge earlier this year. The lawsuit filed last week accuses Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and others associated with it of fraud, negligence and […]

8 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

Sanderson Ford...

Sanderson Ford

Sanderson Ford congratulates D-backs’ on drive to great first half of 2023

The Arizona Diamondbacks just completed a red-hot first half of the major league season, and Sanderson Ford wants to send its congratulations to the ballclub.

...

re:vitalize

When most diets fail, re:vitalize makes a difference that shows

Staying healthy and losing weight are things many people in Arizona are conscious of, especially during the summer.

...

Ability360

At Ability360, every day is Independence Day

With 100 different programs and services, more than 1,500 non-medically based home care staff, a world-renowned Sports & Fitness Center and over 15,000 people with disabilities served annually, across all ages and demographics, Ability360 is a nationwide leader in the disability community.

Blinken heads to Tonga, New Zealand, Australia as US shifts Indo-Pacific strategy into overdrive