Bill Proposes to Establish Permanent US Special Envoy to Pacific to Counter CCP

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) introduced legislation on April 20 that would establish a permanent U.S. special envoy to the Pacific’s leading policy forum to combat the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) growing influence in the region.
The measure (pdf), known as the U.S. and Pacific Islands Forum Partnership Act, proposes to establish a permanent presence with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), a group of countries that includes Australia, New Zealand, and 18 Pacific Island nations in total.
Kennedy’s office noted that the regime in Beijing sees the group of Pacific Island countries as strategically important to its ambitions to dominate the region, given that the communist regime already has a special envoy to the PIF. In February, the CCP appointed Qian Bo, China’s ambassador to Fiji since 2018, as its special envoy….}