US ambassador says interest in the Pacific transcends the US and China

The United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa says the potential for growth in the Pacific is the driving force behind global interest in the region.

Recently President Joe Biden met with Pacific leaders at the White House, where the geopolitical powerhouse offered additional economic aid in the hopes of competing with the growing Chinese presence in the region.

US Ambassador Thomas Udall says interest in the Pacific transcends themselves and China.

"If you start looking as to where there's going to be growth and where's there's going to be more connectivity and activity, it's going to be the Pacific region," Udall says.

"All of us around the world from the European Union to the United States and all the players in the region are looking to the Pacific."

The US has also extended their Pacific diplomatic relations towards Niue and the Cook Islands​.

Udall, who is now the ambassador for these new relations, says they aim to start building more intimacy in their new relationships.

"We've been engaged with them for the last year," he says.

"We've really [taken] the approach that we want to listen, we want to find out what are the things we can work together on.

"We've met with leaders, we've met with people on the ground and we're in the process now of working through all of those issues and trying to become as close as possible."

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