Just as tensions arose recently in the Taiwan Strait, the United States took action against Chinese fishing boats. The U.S. Coast Guard and the Pacific island nation of Kiribati Coast Guard boarded two Chinese fishing boats while patrolling Kiribati's exclusive economic zone, but found no problems, according to the U.S. Coast Guard**. This incident has been hyped up by the British media because it could have a major impact on the strategic game between China and the United States.
Kiribati is an island nation located in the Central Pacific Ocean, and although it has a land area of only 811 square kilometers, its sea power is quite large. Modern sea power is divided by baselines of territorial waters, and Kiribati is divided into three archipelagos with a total of 33 large and small islands, making its maritime exclusive economic zone reach 3.44 million square kilometers, ranking 12th in the world.
As the United States intensifies its "Indo-Pacific strategy" and hopes to expand its military influence in the waters around China, the competition for Pacific island countries has become urgent. Since the so-called "Indo-Pacific strategy" of the United States aims to establish military influence in the vast Indo-Pacific region, through which the Pacific Ocean enters the Pacific Ocean, the South Pacific is of great importance to it.
The southern hemisphere is home to numerous island nations, most of which are very poor. In the past, the United States has chosen to concentrate its investments, mainly wooing two of the most powerful countries in the Global South, Australia and New Zealand, to ensure that it controls the overall situation. However, things have changed in recent years. At the end of 2021, when civil unrest broke out in the Pacific island nation of the Solomon Islands, Australia was unable to save it, and China provided assistance at a critical moment. After the incident, relations between the two countries escalated and a security cooperation agreement was signed. This incident caused panic in the United States and Australia, so in 2022, they sent several groups of personnel to the Solomon Islands to try to prevent cooperation with China, but they failed to do so.
Although the Solomon Islands is a small country, its geographical location is significant. It happens to be located on a key channel of communication between the United States and Australia, and the most critical battle of Kuah Island in the Pacific War of World War II took place on Guadalcanal, the country's main battlefield. Therefore, cooperation with China has made the United States impatient. What is even more worrying is that China's cooperation with other Pacific island countries, which are mainly developing countries and are very welcoming to China, may be further deepened. Therefore, starting in 2022, Biden of the United States has opened a new front, treating Pacific island countries as objects of wooing.
Kiribati's sea power is so huge that the United States will certainly not let it go. In fact, in November last year, Kiribati implemented a visa-free entry policy for China, sending a clear signal of the escalation of China-Kyribati relations. But a few months later, Kiribati cooperated with the United States and boarded a Chinese fishing boat, indicating that the United States is engaged in diplomatic competition with China in the Pacific island countries, and even poses a threat to China's diplomatic strategy. In addition, the current tense situation in the Taiwan Strait comes after the Taiwan authorities have brutally treated mainland fishing boats, so the US side's announcement of boarding a Chinese fishing boat cannot be ruled out as an intention to demonstrate against China.