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Covid-19: 164 schools and early childhood centres have cases

By RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.

More than 160 schools, kura, and early childhood centres are managing identified Covid-19 cases in students or staff.students wearing  mask and  studying in the classroom.

Children in Year 4 and above are required to wear face masks while indoors. Photo: 123RF

Of the 164 schools and ECEs nationwide with cases, 76 are primary schools.

More than half the educational institutions affected are in Auckland, with 93, followed by the Waikato region with 30 schools and ECEs managing coronavirus cases.

Taranaki, Whanganui and Manawatū are the only regions where none have cases, figures from the Ministry of Education show.

Schools remain open under the Omicron strategy and a mandate requires children in Year 4 and above to wear face masks while indoors to reduce the spread of Covid-19.

For children Year 3 and under, the Ministry of Health said mask wearing was encouraged, but not required.

In Auckland, 21 early learning services, 44 primary schools, 6 intermediate schools and 22 secondary schools have identified cases.

South Auckland primary schools have been [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/461153/south-auckland-primary-schools-consider-onsite-vaccination-clinics

considering whether to host vaccine clinics to help vaccinate the region’s 5 to 11-year-olds]. Principals in the area say Counties Manukau DHB has asked them to allow vaccinations on their sites.

As of Monday, 45 percent of eligible 5 to 11-year-olds have had their first Covid-19 vaccine.Number of schools, kura and ECE by education region managing identified Covid-19 cases, as of 2.30pm 14 February.

Schools, kura and ECE managing identified Covid-19 cases as of 2.30pm 14 February. Source: Ministry of Education Photo: Supplied / Ministry of Education

Arrivals from Tonga will soon have to self-isolate due to rising Covid-19 cases

By RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.

Tonga no longer meets the criteria for quarantine-free travel due to increasing Covid-19 cases, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield announced this evening.No caption

Photo: 123rf.com

Tonga now has 139 active cases, 75 of which are from the last three days.

“Following a public health risk assessment, from 27 February travellers from Tonga entering Aotearoa New Zealand will be required to meet some public health requirements, with phased-in changes for travellers from Tonga on flights beginning tomorrow,” Dr Bloomfield said.

People arriving tomorrow will have to take a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) on days 1 and 5 or 6 but won’t be required to enter self-isolation.

Those who arrive on the 22 February flight and thereafter will have to self-isolate for seven days and take RAT tests on days 1 and 5 or 6.

“During this time, all travellers are encouraged to monitor for symptoms and requested to avoid high-risk settings such as hospitality and large gatherings. They must report any positive RAT and take a follow-up PCR test to confirm their result. If they test positive standard isolation measures will be applied to them.”

Bloomfield said officials would “work through things to minimise disruption for RSE workers and employers under the new settings”.

New Zealand would continue to support Tonga with its Covid-19 response, including through vaccine support, he said.

New fund targets 20,000 nurses who have left profession

By RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.

The Health Ministry has launched a $1 million fund to attract former nurses back to the profession in the pandemic. Female nurse puts on protective gloves. Personal protective equipment in the fight against Coronavirus disease .

Another 1000 nurses who qualified overseas may also be eligible for payments from the new fund. File photo. Photo: 123rf

Two hundred nurses are eligible for up to $5000 to cover training, English language tests, and personal costs like childcare and transport.

The ministry’s chief nursing officer Lorraine Hetaraka said there are more than 20,000 New Zealand-trained registered nurses who are not currently practising.

“The support fund is to help nurses who are not currently practising to return to a nursing role, to meet increased demand, support safe staffing, and improve access to care.

“Nurses are one of our cornerstones of the health and disability system and we need more across all areas of the health and disability system in Aotearoa. It’s so important we can grow the workforce to help meet demand and to ensure these nurses are experienced and skilled.”

She said another 1000 nurses who qualified overseas and are working in aged care or as health care assistants, may also be eligible.

The first round of applications is open from today, and closes on 14 March. A second round of applications will open in May 2022.

The launch coincides with other campaigns the ministry is running to help bolster the nursing health workforce, including a domestic recruitment campaign, and a campaign focusing on international nurses with a call to come home.

“I’ve said it many times before – nurses are the first port of call for so many patients across the healthcare system and I really do hope nurses will take the opportunity to apply for this funding and return to practise,” Hetaraka said.

New Zealand to move to Phase 2 of Omicron plan – Jacinda Ardern

By RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced today that New Zealand will move to Phase Two of Omicron plan at 11.59pm on 15 February, when the period of home isolation reduces.

Ardern says the increase in Covid-19 cases is not unexpected and the country will stay in Phase Two as long as daily cases remain between 1000 and 5000 cases.

There is no change to the traffic light system, and schools and businesses remain open, she says.

Bloomfield says Phase Three is not an inevitability, and the objective remains the same – the difference “is simply how much we are able to follow up people, the requirement on people to self-isolate, and the kind of tests we will use”.Covid-19: Next phases of government’s Omicron plan revealed

Phase Two

The move to Phase Two means the self-isolation period for cases reduces from 14 days to 10 days, and for contacts from 10 days to seven.

The period of self isolation also applies to household members.

“We’ve seen that 90 percent of household contacts who were going to test positive do so within those first 10 days,” with Omicron, she says, so there are good reasons for the changes.

She advises people to develop a self-isolation plan, including identifying a buddy who can drop off supplies.

Anyone experiencing symptoms that get worse during isolation – particularly breathlessness – is advised to call Healthline immediately.

Bloomfield says in Phase Two, contacts will also be followed up differently.

People will not be followed up or expected to isolate having been to a hospitality venue unless they were seated at the same table.

“We will be relying on people to notify the people who might have been at the table … we won’t necessarily be asking everybody in that cafe, including the staff, to isolate.”

Ardern says the way to handle this period will be the same as previous times – test, vaccinate and isolate if sick.

“So we are embarking for the first time in the two years since the start of the outbreak into a period where New Zealanders will see more Covid in the community … it will be nothing like we’ve experienced to date but our efforts with vaccination mean we have got to this place without the volume of serious illness and death that so many others experienced.

“And still as always be kind and respectful. I know there is Covid fatigue, but I also know that no one wants to let go of the freedoms we’ve gained from uniting and protecting one another. We need respectful discussion and tolerance as we navigate this next phase together.”

Accessing rapid antigen tests

Phase Two also means the start of the test-to-return-to-work scheme. This would allow critical workers to return to work if they return daily rapid antigen tests.

Employees of businesses signing up to the scheme can go to a provider like a vaccination clinic and get a pack of 10 rapid antigen tests.

In some cases, the tests are being provided directly to workforces.

“We’ve secured enough rapid antigen tests to deal with a widespread Omicron outbreak with 7.2 million in New Zealand now and more arriving over the next week,” Ardern says.

Phase Two will also mean a greater emphasis on digital and automation to speed up contact tracing and other official communications.

“We currently have nearly 5000 active Covid cases, and 39 of those are in hospital, none in ICU … my most important message from this period carries through to the next – get a booster if you haven’t already.”

She says 1.2 million people who are eligible have not yet got their booster.

Anyone who has symptoms or has been in touch with someone who has tested positive should isolate immediately and get a test.

Ardern says the government is trying to ensure it has the supply of rapid antigen tests to meet the needs of the critical workforces first, instead of them being widely available.

Dr Bloomfield says the ministry is working on advice around that but RATs at the moment will be largely confined to the return-to-work scheme. He says some 22.5 million RATs are expected to be in the country by the end of February.

Positive case at Parliament

A member of the Press Gallery at Parliament has returned a positive rapid antigen test (RAT) result for Covid-19.

“We know that they [RATs] are not always 100 percent accurate,” Ardern says.

The individual has taken a PCR test to confirm if they are infected.

This is the first public case of Covid-19 at Parliament.

Anti-mandate protest

The prime minister’s briefing comes in the wake of the protest which built to an attendance of 3000 over the weekend despite appalling weather and a constant stream of loud music and Covid-19 vaccination ads – played at the insistence of Speaker Trevor Mallard.

Asked if it was kind for the Speaker to turn on the sprinklers with the protesters there, Ardern says the Speaker and police have the responsibility of upholding the law and ensuring everyone is safe.

She says in her view the protest has stepped beyond merely a protest, with harassment of others and causing the inability of others in Wellington to move around freely.

She says those on the forecourt of Parliament want to see the removal of all public health measures – the very measures that have kept New Zealand safe. “You’ll forgive me if I take a very strong view on that suggestion.”

Ardern advised the protesters via Morning Report to go home and take their children with them.

Govt support for businesses

Ardern says some sectors have been significantly down on business because of the Covid-19 Protection Framework – the traffic light system – and Finance Minister Grant Robertson is working on “highly targeted, one-off and short term” measures to support those sectors, which particularly includes hospitality.

She says the government will have more to say on that “very shortly”.

The spread of Omicron is also likely to feature at the briefing with cases almost doubling yesterday to a record 810, surpassed today by the announcement of 981 cases.

Prominent epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker also warned today that the real number of cases in Aotearoa could be 10 times the official figure – the real number could be more like 8000.

Covid-19 update: Record 981 new community cases today

There are 981 new community cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand today.3D rendering, coronavirus cells covid-19 influenza flowing on gradient background as dangerous flu strain cases as a pandemic medical health risk concept of disease cells risk

File image. Photo: 123RF

In a statement, the Ministry of Health said the new cases were in Northland (21), Auckland (768), Waikato (82), Bay of Plenty (23), Lakes (12), Hawke’s Bay (5), MidCentral (5), Taranaki (1), Tairāwhiti (6), Wellington (6), Hutt Valley (14), Wairarapa (12), Nelson Marlborough (2), Canterbury (4), South Canterbury (1) and Southern (19).

“Once again, the further increase in new cases today is another reminder that, as expected, the highly transmissible Omicron variant is now spreading in our communities as we have seen in other countries,” the ministry said.

Thirty-nine people with Covid-19 are in hospitals in Whangārei, Auckland, Waikato, Rotorua, Wellington and Christchurch – none in ICU or HDU.

The average age of hospitalisations is 55.

At the border, there are 25 new Covid-19 cases – eight of which are historical. The cases at the border are from India, Malaysia and 14 of them are unknown.

There is now a total of 4960 active community cases. In total, there have been 21,195 cases in New Zealand.

On vaccinations, 20,739 boosters were administered yesterday despite the wild weather.

“The booster vaccine offers a high level of protection against Omicron, so if it’s been three months since you got your second dose, please get your booster as soon as possible,” the ministry said.

There were also 241 first doses given yesterday, 506 second doses and 1268 paediatric doses.

The new total comes after yesterday’s 810 new community cases.

While that may be a new high for the country, University of Otago epidemiologist professor Michael Baker said the real number could be more like 8000.

Today’s update comes as Cabinet prepares to meet this afternoon to discuss the surge in positive cases.

The government has already revealed the next phases of the plan for the Omicron outbreak.

COVID-19 outbreak Tonga: Baby youngest Covid case, all 139 Omicron cases are ‘mild’ except one patient on ventilator

A five-month old baby is the youngest confirmed Covid case so far in Tonga’s Omicron outbreak.

There are 139  active cases of Covid-19 in the community today brining the total number of cases since the outbreak to 140.

Health Minister Saia Piukala. Photo/Screenshot (FM87.5 livestream)

133  people are in Tongatapu while six are in Vava’u.

One case, which was the first recovered case was released from MIQ on Friday.

The Minister of Health Saia Piukala said during a press conference this morning there was one case on a ventilator.

He said the rest of the cases were “mild”.

He said more front line staff tested positive and they were being isolated.

Hon Piukala said some cases at the MIQs had been tested negative and four of them are expected to be released tomorrow February 15, one on February 16 and two on February 17 with more returned negative cases to be released later.

He said more testing was underway in Vava’u today.

The update from the Prime Minister’s press conference this morning comes shortly after MP Tevita Puloka reported 109 Covid cases in his Tongatapu 1 constituency only.

The Tongatapu 1 constituency cases are, two in Halavave, 24 in central Kolomotu’a, two in Tongataeaapa, 65 in Sopu, six in Isileli, five in Tu’atakilangi, four in Kapeta and one case in Tufuenga, Puloka said.

Meanwhile, some local journalists believed the virus was moving quickly and widely spread in Tongatapu and Vava’u.

MP Puloka told radio FM 87.5 this morning the Parliament’s Social Committee met to update the situation.

Puloka, who is also the Chair of the Parliament’s Social Committee, said the Minister of Finance reported the strength of the government’s covid response budget was performing well.

He said if there was any issues with the budget a Parliament meeting was called.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says Parliament protesters not ‘interested in engaging’

By RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.

“Go home and take your children” – that’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s message for protesters remaining at Parliament today.Jacinda Ardern

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver

Despite being trespassed from Parliament grounds some days ago, protesters remain on the lawn and show no sign of leaving. There were about 3000 present over the weekend.

Ardern told Morning Report today “I think we all want them to leave”.

“What’s become very clear is this is not any form of protest I’ve seen before and we’ve seen a lot, you know, and I think we’ve said time and time again, New Zealand is a place where protest is part of who we are.

“Some of our greatest movements have been born of people movements, many of which have entered the forecourt of Parliament.

“But what I’m seeing, it is some kind of imported form of protest.

“We’ve seen Trump flags, Canadian flags, people who are moving around the outskirts of the area with masks are being abused.

“Children and young people on their way to school are being abused. Businesses are seeing people occupy their spaces.

She did not believe the protest should continue and had specific concern for the children there, saying it was not an appropriate place for them.

“Do I believe that they should be there? No. Should they go home? Yes. Especially, especially the children.

Asked if it was time for a “olive branch” gesture or for politicians to meet and talk with protesters, Ardern said their actions did “not create a space where there’s any sense that they want dialogue”.

“What I have seen down on that forecourt does not suggest to me that this is a group that are interested in engaging in policy development.

“There are signs down there calling for the death of politicians.”

As for the management of the situation, that was for police, she said.

Police today are appealing to protesters to work with them to try to clear the streets of Wellington.

Wellington district commander Superintendent Corrie Parnell said they did not plan to wait the protesters out.

Police “ultimately need to be able to make all of those operational decisions,” Ardern said.

“It is absolutely for the police to determine how they manage any form of occupation or protests. And you can understand why that is a convention we will hold strongly to.

“I would hate to see in the future a situation where you have politicians seen to be instructing the police on how to manage any type of protest – and that extends to not passing judgement on operational decisions that are for them.”

Asked about tactics used by Parliament’s Speaker Trevor Mallard over the weekend – out-of-tune music and Covid-19 vaccination ads being played to protesters – Ardern said “I would also enforce the difference in our different roles here, the Speaker exists on behalf of all parliamentarians.

“His job is to, of course, maintain a safe place to work. Right now it is a very difficult place for people to enter and the one piece of context I’ll just give is that it has not been a silent protest.

“What I’ve heard are clear anti-vaccination messages that do not align with the vast majority of New Zealanders.

“Media, when they’ve stepped onto the forecourt, have been abused and chased and called liars.

“So some of the rhetoric and noise coming from the protest has been pretty poor.”

A discussion on Mallard’s tactics was “not a fray” Ardern wanted get into, she said.

As for Covid-19 restrictions, Ardern said “we’ve only used what’s been necessary. That’s why we’re not using lockdowns anymore – because we now have other tools that means we don’t need to use those harsher form of measures, and we will continue to move away from them.

“But when we’re in the middle of a growing pandemic, that is not the time to move away from those things that keep us safe…

“When it comes to everything from the use of vaccine passes to the use of mandates, you’ve seen with other countries that they have been in the position to start lessening the use of those as they progress through the pandemic and got to a place where you see more stabilisation and a steady management within the health system.

“That is what we would move to as well. It is fairly difficult to put timelines or criteria on that when of course we are dealing with different variants that can come anytime. [I am] always loath to set up a situation you then can’t follow through on because of a changing situation, so instead I give the principle: As soon as we can move away, we will move away.

“We’ve done that with lockdowns. We’re opening the borders, we are easing restrictions that have been quite impactful for everyday lives.

“But right now, the ones we still have are going to help us get through Omicron.”

Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: Big jump in positive cases with 109 cases in Tongatapu 1 constituency only

MP Tevita Puloka has this morning reported 109 Covid cases in his Tongatapu 1 constituency only, up from 108 cases recorded on Friday for the whole of Tonga’s 17 constituencies altogether.

The Tongatapu 1 constituency cases are, two in Halavave, 24 in central Kolomotu’a, two in Tongataeaapa, 65 in Sopu, six in Isisleli, five in Tu’atakilangi, four in Kapeta and one case in Tufuenga, Puloka said.

Kaniva News contacted the Ministry of Health for an update.

There was no press conference with the Prime Minister since Friday to update the nation on the latest figures.

Meanwhile, some local journalists believed the virus was moving quickly and widely spread in Tongatapu and Vava’u.

MP Puloka told radio FM 87.5 this morning the Parliament’s Social Committee met to update the situation.

Puloka, who is also the Chair of the Parliament’s Social Committee, said the Minister of Finance reported the strength of the government’s covid response budget was performing well.

He said if there was any issues with the budget a Parliament meeting was called.

US Court of appeal overturns part of conviction that sent Tongan fraudster to jail for 20 years over immigration scam.

US Court of appeal overturns part of conviction that sent Tongan fraudster to jail for 20 years over immigration scam.

Tongan conman Helaman Hansen

Tongan conman Helaman Hansen, sentenced to 20 year in jail for defrauding migrants in the United States, has had part of his conviction overturned.

The US Court of Appeal set aside two counts of encouraging or inducing an alien to reside in the United States for private financial gain.

The Appeals court said a law penalising anybody who encouraged or induced illegal immigration was too broad, because it covered a substantial amount of speech protected by the First Amendment.

Following the Court of appeal’s ruling, Hansen has been remanded to the District Court for re-sentencing.

Original conviction

Californian resident Hansen, 65, was sent to two decades imprisonment in 2017 and ordered to pay US$576,264 in restitution.

During the trial he was found guilty of encouraging two immigrants to illegally overstay their visas. It was this part of the conviction that was set aside  by the Court of Appeal last Wednesday.

Between October 2012 and January 2016, Hansen and others used various entities such as Americans Helping America (AHA) to sell memberships in what he claimed was a migration programme based on the fraudulent claim that immigrant adults could achieve U.S. citizenship by being legally adopted by an American citizen and completing a list of additional tasks.

At first, memberships in the programme were sold for an annual fee of US$150, but fee grew and eventually was as high as US$10,000.

On May 9, 2017, after an 11-day trial, a federal jury found Hansen guilty of 12 counts of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud, and two counts of encouraging and inducing illegal immigration for private financial gain.

U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert said the sentence recognised the vast number of people victimised by Hansen.

“He preyed upon hundreds of people who wanted to find a pathway to American citizenship and exploited their hopes and dreams for his own financial gain,” Talbert said.

“The defendant’s lies and false promises caused many to part with substantial amounts of money, and in some instances, a lifetime’s worth of savings.”

Legitimate pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants existed, but adult adoption was not one of them.

Hansen knowingly accepted funds for adult adoption processes despite being informed that such would not aid his victims with obtaining citizenship.

Although some victims completed the adoption stage of the fraudulent scheme not one obtained citizenship. As early as October 2012, Hansen was told by US Citizenship and Immigration Services that aliens adopted after their 16th birthday could not obtain citizenship in the manner Hansen was promoting.

Despite this notification, Hansen and others acting at his direction induced about 500 victims to pay more than US$1 million to join the fraudulent program.

Warning ignored

As Kaniva News reported in 2016 Hansen and his wife Viola, also known as Sela Hansen, were at the centre of the FBI investigation that led him to trial.

After the investigation was made public, Tongans came forward and claimed they spent thousands of dollars after they were promised they would get US citizenship .

They told Kaniva News they had been failed  by their own people.

Some in the Tongan-Sacramento community said Tongans had been repeatedly warned to be careful about the services provided by the Americans Helping Americans, saying they were wasting their money on it, but most ignored the warning.

US announces deeper engagement strategy to match China in the Pacific

BLice MovonoRNZ Pacific correspondent in Suva and is republished with permission

The United States insists it is a Pacific nation and has unveiled a raft of new strategies to better engage with other nations in the Region.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is the first Secretary of State to visit Fiji in nearly 37 years.

During his historic visit, Blinken announced that the US was pursuing deeper engagement plans with Pacific nations.

A key element and motivation for those plans is the strengthening of the US presence to match the growing influence of China in the Pacific.

In its engagement strategy, he said that China had combined its economic, diplomatic, military, and technological might to pursue “a sphere of influence in the Indo-Pacific and seeks to become the world’s most influential power”.

During an eight-hour visit to Fiji, while returning from a Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) meeting in Australia, Blinken announced climate change financing, military and other exchange initiatives and plans for a new embassy in the Solomon Islands among other foreign diplomacy engagements.

Blinken has been on a world tour for the past several months to discuss two main issues: covid-19 and China, with his counterparts including Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne, Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr S. Jaishankar and Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Hayashi Yoshimasa.

New Indo-Pacific engagement strategy
While in Fiji, Blinken met with acting Prime Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and 18 Pacific Island leaders virtually, during which he announced the US government’s brand new Indo-Pacific engagement strategy, calling the region “vital to our own prosperity, our own progress”.

Blinken said that the new strategy was the result of a year of extensive engagement in the Asia Pacific region and would reflect US determination to strengthen its long-term position in the region.

“We will focus on every corner of the region, from Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, to South Asia and Oceania, including the Pacific Islands,” he said.

“We do so at a time when many of our allies and partners, including in Europe, are increasingly turning their own attention to the region; and when there is broad, bipartisan agreement in the U.S. Congress that the United States must, too.”

This American refocus is a direct response to the increasing influence of China in the Pacific.

Since 2006, Chinese trade and foreign aid to the Pacific has significantly increased. Beijing is now the third largest donor to the region.

Although Chinese aid still represents only 8 percent of all foreign aid between 2011 and 2017 (according to The Lowy Institute), many Pacific island governments have favoured concessional loans from China, to finance large infrastructure developments.

Chinese ‘coercion and aggression’
In Solomon Islands, where Blinken announced the latest US Embassy would be opened, almost half of all two-way trade is with China.

In describing China’s actions toward expanding its influence, Blinken stated:

“The PRC’s coercion and aggression spans the globe, but it is most acute in the Indo-Pacific. From the economic coercion of Australia to the conflict along the Line of Actual Control with India to the growing pressure on Taiwan and bullying of neighbours in the East and South China Seas, our allies and partners in the region bear much of the cost of the PRC’s harmful behaviour.

“In the process, the PRC is also undermining human rights and international law, including freedom of navigation, as well as other principles that have brought stability and prosperity to the Indo-Pacific.”

When questioned by reporters about US intentions for “authentic engagement that speaks to the real needs of the islanders”, Blinken replied that the US sees the Pacific as the region for the future, and that their intentions were beyond mere security concerns.

“It’s much more fundamental than that. When we are looking at this region that we share, we see it as the region for the future, vital to our own prosperity, our own progress.

“Sixty per cent of global GDP is here, 50 percent of the world’s population is here. For all the challenges that we have, at the moment we’re working on together, it’s also a source of tremendous opportunity.”

Democracy and transparency
Blinken insisted that Washington’s new strategy was about using democracy and transparency to build a free and open Indo-Pacific which was committed to a “rules based order”.

Moving onto economics, the Secretary of State stated that the US intends to forge partnerships and alliances within the region, which will include more work with ASEAN, APEC and the Pacific Islands Forum.

Despite being headquartered in Fiji, the Forum was not invited to be part of Blinken’s visit.

At the Pacific Leaders meeting, Blinken announced a commitment to deeper economic integration including measures to open market access for agricultural commodities from the islands.

“It’s about connecting our countries together, deepening and stitching together different partnerships and alliances. It’s about building shared prosperity, with new approaches to economic integration, some of which we talked about today with high standards.”

Washington’s new Indo Pacific engagement strategy also includes commitments to develop new approaches to trade, which meet high labour and environmental standards as well as to create more resilient and secure supply chains which are “diverse, open, and predictable.”

Climate change strategy
Regarding climate change, Blinken announced plans to divert substantial portions of the US$150 billion announced at COP26 last year to the Pacific and also plans to make shared investments in decarbonisation and clean energy.

The Indo Pacific strategy announced commitments to “working with allies and partners to develop 2030 and 2050 targets, strategies, plans, and policies consistent with limiting global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius”.

Blinken stated that the US was committed to reducing regional vulnerability to the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation.

On security matters, Blinken said the Pacific could expect power derived from US alliances in other parts of the world to come to the islands.

“The United States is increasingly speaking with one voice with our NATO allies and our G7 partners, when it comes to Indo Pacific matters, you can see the strength of that commitment to the Indo Pacific throughout the past year.”