Biden Cannot Let Pacific Island Nations Fall into China’s Hands 

President Biden’s two-day summit with the leaders of many small Pacific Island nations hasn’t received much media coverage. But it’s an important development in the increasingly fraught efforts to limit China’s power.

The nations invited to the summit are some of the smallest and most obscure nations on Earth. Tonga, Vanuatu, Kiribati and Palau are usually the answers to bar trivia questions, not the objects of presidential attention. But they and six other island nations occupy strategic locations in the Pacific Ocean. China noticed this in recent years and started a diplomatic offensive that has borne significant fruit, forcing the United States and its allies to respond.