U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Fijian Acting Prime Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum upon arrival in Nadi, Fiji February 12, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/POOL

WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) – Fiji is joining U.S. President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), the White House announced on Thursday, making it the first Pacific island nation in the plan that is part of an American effort to push back on China’s growing regional influence.

The announcement comes as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi begins an extensive tour of Pacific island nations – including Fiji – a region that is becoming an increasingly tense front in the competition for influence between Beijing and Washington.

Wang arrived in the region this week seeking a 10-nation agreement with island nations on security and trade that has baffled the United States and its Pacific allies. Read more

The White House welcomed Fiji as a founding member of IPEF, which it said now includes countries from Northeast and Southeast Asia, South Asia, Oceania and the Pacific Islands.

“Across geography, we are united in our commitment to a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement, highlighting Fiji’s valuable perspective in the fight against climate change.

With the addition of Fiji, IPEF now represents the full regional diversity of the Indo-Pacific, a senior administration official said.

Biden officially launched the IPEF earlier this week during his first trip as president to Asia, which implored new economic engagement from the United States. Read more

Fiji is the 14th country to join the IPEF talks, which exclude China.

Washington has lacked an economic pillar in its Indo-Pacific engagement since former President Donald Trump quit a multinational trans-Pacific trade deal, in part out of concern for American jobs.

The IPEF is unlikely to include binding commitments, and some Asian countries and trade experts have expressed skepticism of the plan.

Reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan

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