The United States announced $810 million in new assistance for Pacific Islands at the conference.

At a Thursday conference with President Joe Biden, the United States committed $810 million in fresh assistance for Pacific Islands, despite Chinese incursions into the crucial but sparsely inhabited region.

The White House announced a $600 million 10-year plan to clean up and improve filthy seas to sustain the tuna business and increase climate, development aid, and diplomatic presence.

Later Thursday, Biden will address the first-ever Pacific Island summit in Washington, which will include 12 state or government leaders, in hopes of reconnecting with a region that has been intimately bonded to the US since World War II.

With the United States frequently regarded as taking the region for granted, China has established itself firmly in recent years through investment, police training, and, most controversially, a security deal with the Solomon Islands.

The Biden administration also announced that the United States would recognize the Cook Islands and Niue, a self-governing island whose foreign and defense policies and currency are linked to New Zealand.

The plan will allow the US to expand its diplomatic presence in the Cook Islands and Niue, which have fewer than 20,000 people but form a huge economic zone in the South Pacific.

In addition to launching a new engagement strategy, Biden appointed Frankie Reed, a veteran US ambassador in the region, as the first-ever US envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum.

The US had previously declared the reopening of an embassy in the Solomon Islands, despite China’s substantial presence. The White House stated Thursday that US embassies would also open in Tonga and Kiribati.