The US strategy to counter China in the Pacific could be a $1bn misstep | Gerard Finin and Terence Wesley-Smith

The US is proposing big spending, but initiatives are designed to undermine China rather than address actual needs on the islands

After decades of ambivalence, the United States plans to expand its footprint in the Pacific islands region to dimensions larger than at any time since the second world war.

But the Biden administration may be on the brink of embracing a flawed foreign policy initiative spanning almost one-third of the globe.