PACIFIC ISLAND PERMREPS LAY OUT CONCERNS ON STATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 USUN NEW YORK 000247

SIPDIS

STATE FOR IO, EAP, OES, G, F, EEB

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/11/2019
TAGS: PREL ECON SENV KGHG AORC UNGA EAID XV
SUBJECT: PACIFIC ISLAND PERMREPS LAY OUT CONCERNS ON STATE
OF U.S. PARTNERSHIP, CLIMATE CHANGE, DEVELOPMENT AID

Classified By: Ambassador Susan Rice for reason 1.4 (b, d)


1. (C) SUMMARY. In Ambassador Rice's March 5 hosted lunch
for her counterparts from 11 UN member states representing
Pacific island nations, the islanders expressed optimism for
the new U.S. Administration after feeling drift in recent
years. They called for enhanced partnership with the U.S.
within the UN, and bilaterally in assistance and security
programs. The Pacific ambassadors highlighted their effort
to win UN adoption of a resolution bringing climate change to
the UN Security Council, and urged a heads of state-level
meeting with the U.S. within the next two years. Although
the purpose of the meeting was to address partnership at the
UN, the Pacific representatives focused substantially on
bilateral and regional concerns. End summary.

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Current and Future Collaboration
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2. (U) Ambassador Rice hosted a March 5 introductory lunch
for the Permanent Representatives (or their substitutes) of
eleven Pacific Island nations, who are some of the U.S.'s
most reliable voting partners in the UN General Assembly.
Attendees included:

-- Fiji Ambassador Berenado Vunibobo;
-- Marshall Islands Ambassador Phillip Muller;
-- Micronesia Ambassador Masao Nakayama;
-- Nauru Ambassador Marlene Moses;
-- Palau Ambassador Stuart Beck;
-- Papua New Guinea Ambassador Robert Aisi;
-- Samoa First Secretary Noelani Manoa;
-- Solomon Islands Ambassador Collin Beck;
-- Tonga Ambassador Fekitamoeloa 'Utoikamanu;
-- Tuvalu Ambassador Afelee Pita; and
-- Vanuatu Ambassador Donald Kalpokas.


3. (U) Ambassador Rice noted that their event was the first
diplomatic lunch or dinner she had hosted since arriving at
USUN, and briefly reviewed the priorities of the new
Administration in the United Nations. She emphasized that
U.S. focus on such key issues as climate change, development,
UN peacekeeping and non-proliferation could not produce
results without the continued support and partnership of our
allies in the Pacific region. Tonga PermRep 'Utoikamanu, as
chair of the Pacific group, underscored the Pacific states'
commitment to friendship and partnership with the U.S.,
saying they were "heartened" by the new Administration's
evident engagement at the UN, and turned the floor over to
colleagues to raise agreed-upon discussion points.

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Sustainable Development, MDGs
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4. (SBU) Solomon Islands PermRep Collin Beck raised the
priority issue of development for the Pacific states,
particularly as six of the states are officially designated
as Least Developed Countries (LDC),and many of them remain
off-target for achieving the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). Beck noted that the U.S. Millennium Challenge
Corporation (MCC) and USAID would be valuable tools to help
achieve their development goals, but none of the states
except Vanuatu qualify for MCC, and USAID has a greatly
reduced presence. Top sectors for development assistance

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identified were education, health (HIV, malaria, diabetes),
and renewable energy. Beck noted that, with one-third of
budget outlays going to meet energy costs, finding sources of
renewable energy would free resources to address health and
education.


5. (SBU) Nauru PermRep Moses complimented a diabetes health
program initiated with the help of Congressman Eni
Faleomavaega, and urged the State Department and USAID to
find funds to continue it. Marshall Islands PermRep Muller
asked that USAID channel more programs through host
governments rather than through NGOs, since the chosen NGOs
do not always share the governments' priorities. He also
lamented that USAID (or possibly FEMA) recently turned down a
request for disaster assistance in the Marshall Islands
because only about 300 families were rendered homeless, which
did not meet assistance thresholds. He argued that small
island states should be subject to different threshold
criteria. Muller also pointed out that other states rendered
aid, making the U.S. refusal look even worse.


6. (C) Papua New Guinea (PNG) PermRep Aisi complained that UN
agencies constantly offer excuses for why they cannot have an
aid presence in their countries, yet the UN constantly asks
the Pacific troop-contributing states for help with each new
peacekeeping mandate. He urged the U.S., as one of the main
financial contributors to the Global Environment Facility
(GEF),to ensure that the Pacific region will get a fair
share of those funds. He and Micronesia PermRep Nakayama
expressed deep frustration with unmet promises from UN
Secretaries-General to have a greater UN physical presence in
their region, and with the UN even hiring unqualified
temporary hires in the region to provide ineffectual
assistance. Nauru PermRep Moses said the UN finally assigned
a long-promised "expert," but only if donor funds were found
to finance him. "We're right back where we started!"
Ambassador Rice inquired whether the World Bank had a similar
track record, with Tonga replying that the Asia Development
Bank has a higher profile since not all Pacific states are
World Bank members. Ambassador Moses expressed astonishment
at the amounts of development assistance that donors have
poured into "bottomless pits" in other regions of the world
with little discernible effect, quipping in contrast that
"Our pits have bottoms!"

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LDC Status
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7. (SBU) Solomons PermRep Beck noted that three of the
Pacific states were in the process of possible graduation
from the Least Developed Country status, expressing concern
that such graduation would deprive those states of key
assistance precisely at a time of global financial crisis and
continued worries about vulnerability to climate change. He
argued that the UN's Commission on Development Policy (CDP),
which determines the criteria for LDC graduation, is not
properly taking these factors into consideration, and called
for a temporary halt to any further graduation. Tuvalu
PermRep Pita echoed the concerns, saying it was ridiculous
that the CDP was simultaneously trying to graduate
resource-poor Tuvalu from the LDC list while seeking to add
resource-rich Papua New Guinea. PNG Ambassador Aisi likewise
expressed frustration with the CDP, saying the body continued
to offer LDC status to PNG despite PNG's firm opposition.
(Note: Unlike graduation from LDC status, a state must

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consent to be added to that category of countries. End note.)

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Climate Change and Security
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8. (SBU) Palau PermRep Stuart Beck briefed Ambassador Rice on
the Pacific Islands' effort to win adoption of a General
Assembly (GA) draft resolution calling on the UN Security
Council to consider the security implications of climate
change. Beck noted that 61 states have agreed to co-sponsor
their resolution, but admitted that strong opposition remains
from some oil-producing states and other developing
countries, including Caribbean island states, either out of
fear that the UNSC will force action to halt carbon
emissions, or because they feel climate change is better
addressed in a universal body like the General Assembly. He
also attributed some opposition to anti-U.S. sentiments, both
because of the pro-U.S. voting record of some Pacific states,
and because of the U.S. influence within the UNSC.


9. (SBU) Beck said the Pacific states currently hope for GA
action on the resolution by May, be that adoption by
consensus or by vote. (Note: Beck has had to back off
several of these artificial target dates already in this
process. End note.) He solicited U.S. support and even
co-sponsorship, though it remains difficult to predict what
the key provisions of the text might be at the end of the
drawn-out negotiations. Beck joked that some delegations are
stringing out the negotiations "as if it were a jobs
program." He was heartened, however, that the process has at
least further raised sensitivity within the UN to the
existential threat climate change poses to some Pacific
nations.

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Regional Security, UN Peacekeeping
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10. (SBU) Reacting to Ambassador Rice's mention of
non-proliferation issues, PNG PermRep Aisi noted that most of
the Pacific states are strong supporters of the
Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty. He highlighted that several of the Pacific states
are contributing troops or police forces to conflict areas,
including in partnership with the U.S. Within their region,
the states also cooperate on transnational crime issues to a
certain extent. He admitted that some of the Pacific states
are delinquent in submitting required reports to the UNSC,
but asked for USG understanding that the states have limited
capacities for fulfilling reporting requirements, and that
most of their attentions are focused on key development
needs. He lamented at length that, while UN rhetoric puts
equal emphasis on development and security, the Pacific
states are asked to provide too much of the latter and get in
return too little of the former. Marshall Islands PermRep
Muller singled out the Shiprider agreements with the U.S.
Coast Guard as one of the best arrangements to enable Pacific
states to police their exclusive economic zones, but urged
that those efforts be augmented. Tuvalu PermRep Pita
lamented that USG subsidies to finance monitoring of
multilateral fishing treaties have declined.

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Access to Guam jobs, contracts
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11. (SBU) Several of the ambassadors pointed out the
repositioning of U.S. Marines to Guam as affording key
employment opportunities for the neighboring states.
Marshall Islands PermRep Muller said that the Freely
Associated States have the advantage of proximity and
immigration status to compete for jobs, but argued that the
other states of the region should likewise be given
opportunities. Tonga PermRep 'Utoikamanu noted that there
were ongoing negotiations with the State Department on this
issue.

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Better Consultations with the U.S.
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12. (C) Nauru PermRep Moses raised the Pacific states' desire
for a more regular and formalized annual or biennial meeting
with the U.S. at either head of state or ministerial level.
She noted that the Pacific heads of state came to Washington,
DC, two years ago for a meeting of the Pacific Islands
Conference of Leaders (PICL),but said the lack of a "proper"
reception by the President and Secretary of State left a
bitter taste in the leaders' mouths. Likewise, when their
foreign ministers have a bilateral with the U.S. on the
margins of the September opening of the General Assembly,
they never receive a reciprocal level of U.S. participation.
Moses noted that Rep. Faleomavaega was trying to organize a
PICL meeting for September 2010 in New York, and she urged
that the Administration help make it a "proper, substantive
event."


13. (C) Micronesia PermRep Nakayama also urged more regular
consultations in New York between the U.S. and Pacific
missions to the UN. He suggested the appointment of a
dedicated officer within the U.S. Mission as their primary
point of contact on any issue. Given their limited staffs,
the Pacific states cannot follow in detail many of the issues
that come up for decision in the General Assembly and would
appreciate U.S. insights. Asked what level of service USUN
was currently providing them, Marshall Islands PermRep Muller
complained that he is often contacted during the fall only an
hour before a vote on some matter of concern to the U.S. and
simply told how he should vote, but not why. He said that
such behavior made it difficult for him to justify or even
explain to his capital what actions he has taken. Moreover,
what consultations take place are often very brief and on
short-notice, which does not allow either in-depth discussion
nor time to address issues that he might wish to discuss.


14. (U) Ambassador Rice thanked the representatives for their
concrete suggestions, and for raising important issues in a
friendly and open manner. She promised that the USG would
examine many of their recommendations, and that the meeting
represented just the beginning of a dialogue and not the end.
Wolff