Monday’s bombshell revelation from the Pacific Forum that Kiribati has pulled out of the alliance to waltz into the arms of Beijing is still ringing around the region.

This represents the most significant encroachment of influence into the Pacific since Japan’s Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

This is the most provocative move by China to date into the direct sphere of influence of America.

Tarawa Government cabinet papers show they want to let China’s fishing fleet into the Phoenix Islands Protected Area as well as have some kind of operation on Kanton Island, using old American facilities there.

According to 1979 Kiribas/US Treaty of Friendship. America considers those facilities as theirs and will not tolerate China taking them over – how does America react if they are handed over to China?

This agreement allows China the ability strike at Pearl Harbour, Guam and American Samoa so my guess is American overkill…

Pacific Islands Forum 2022: US makes push into Forum as China barred, PM Jacinda Ardern prepares for Solomons meeting

United States Vice-President Kamala Harris is set to address leaders at the Pacific Islands Forum tomorrow, announcing a range of new strategic initiatives in what a political expert says is “unprecedented access” for a non-Forum member.

…the 1979 Kiribati/US Treaty of Friendship requires a 6 month pull out clause, so we will know China’s true intentions here if Kiribati triggers that clause before the end of the year.

This Kiribati encroachment is a remarkable intrusion by China directly into American sphere of influence in the Pacific, now we could bitch about America having that influence in the first place and the arrogance of them thinking they still have a sphere and how outrageous is that when Russia is simply doing the same in the Ukraine, but the fact still remains China has pushed directly into America’s sphere and they are directly challenging American hegemony in the Pacific.

We don’t want to get caught between what’s coming.

Wellington should refuse point blank to cave into Beijing or Washington and must put NZ and the interests off our Pacific Whānau first above and beyond the interests of China and America.

But this move into Kiribati is the canary in the coal mine. It would give China a strategic advantage against 3 crucial American Imperial outposts, if you can’t comprehend how America is going to respond to that level of threat, you don’t appreciate what just happened.

Dr Bryce Edwards has caught up to a debate TDB has been having for some time to increase Military GDP spending to 3%. Interestingly Labour have quietly ratcheted GDP military spending from just over 1% to just under 2%.

I believe that the climate crisis means we need a vastly larger military to cope with civil disasters and if we are attempting to distance ourselves from China and America, we need to make a decision to dramatically lift what we spend on the military for purely defensive capacity.

How would we go about defending the realm of NZ and all our economic exclusive zone?

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