The US steps up its game as China circles the Pacific
CNN
On a small group of atolls in the central Pacific Ocean, Kiribati islanders celebrated their Independence Day Tuesday with a President who had skipped the region's first face-to-face meeting in three years.
President Taneti Maamau not only opted out of the Pacific Island Forum meeting in Suva, Fiji, but withdrew the country from the 18-member group as a matter of principle over a dispute involving its leadership.
Some saw Beijing's hand in Maamau's decision to leave the alliance, a claim China's Foreign Ministry rejected as "completely groundless" during a regular news briefing Monday.
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