The US and Fiji have begun talks on a military pact meant to ramp up US troop deployments to the Pacific island nation as part of the US’s buildup in the region that’s aimed at China.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the plans to negotiate a Status of Forces Agreement while visiting Fiji on Saturday. “The SOFA will enable us to deploy and redeploy forces in support of Fiji and help us train with the Fijians on a very routine basis. I look forward to routine rotations, training rotations — where possible — to be conducted,” Austin said.
Austin insisted the idea of establishing “permanent” US bases was not being discussed, although the US has a constant military presence in many countries where it technically doesn’t have a permanent presence.
During his visit to Fiji, Austin signed a logistics deal with Fijian officials that the Pentagon said was meant to increase emergency cooperation between the two nations. “The Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement is aimed at enabling the efficient transfer of fuel and medical supplies and the use of maintenance facilities during emergencies,” the Pentagon said.
Austin also announced that the US would be providing about $5 million in military aid to Fiji, which would go toward the purchase of small arms. His trip marked the first time a US secretary of defense visited Fiji.
US military officials have been open about the fact that the steps to increase the US’s military footprint in Pacific Island nations are to prepare for a future war with China. Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, the former head of US Pacific Air Forces who is now the commander of Air Combat Command, told Nikkei Asia last year that the purpose was to give China more targets to hit.
“Obviously, we would like to disperse in as many places as we can to make the targeting problem for the Chinese as difficult as possible,” Wilsbach said. “A lot of those runways where we would operate from are in the Pacific Island nations.”
