Biden meets Pacific island leaders for second summit

US President Joe Biden has met Pacific island leaders for a second White House summit, part of a charm offensive aimed at curbing further inroads by China into a strategic region that the United States has long considered its own backyard.

Before welcoming the island leaders, gathered under the umbrella of the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), Biden announced US diplomatic recognition of two more Pacific countries: the Cook Islands and Niue.

Officials said the US would also promise new money for infrastructure for the region, including to improve internet connectivity via undersea cables.

"The United States committed to ensuring (an) Indo-Pacific region that is free, open, prosperous and secure" Biden said at the welcoming ceremony.

"We're committed to working with all the nations around this table to achieve that goal."

Biden pledged to work with Congress to provide $US200 million ($A311 million) more in funding for the region for projects aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change, spurring economic growth, countering illegal fishing and improving public health, according to a document issued after a working lunch with the group.

"These new programs and activities continue to demonstrate the US commitment to work together with the Pacific Islands to expand and deepen our co-operation in the years ahead," the document said.

A joint statement said the sides agreed to hold another summit in 2025 and political engagements every two years thereafter.

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, the forum's chair, called the summit "an opportunity ... to develop our partnerships for prosperity".

He urged Washington "to actively engage at the highest level" in the 52nd PIF leaders meeting he would host in a few weeks to endorse its 2050 Strategy.

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, who has deepened his country's ties with China, skipped the summit.

A senior administration official said the US was "disappointed" by Sogavare's decision.

The US appears to have made no progress on offers of substantial infrastructure funding and expanded aid to the Solomons.

Sogavare visited China in July, announcing a policing agreement with officials in Beijing that builds on a security pact signed last year.

The White House in 2022 said the US would invest more than $US810 million ($A1.3 billion) in expanded programs to aid the Pacific islands.

Meg Keen, director of Pacific Island Programs at Australia's Lowy Institute, said although the US had opened new embassies and a USAID office in the region since last year's summit, Congress had yet to approve most of the funding pledges made in 2022.

She said Pacific island countries "welcome the US re-engagement with the region, but don't want geopolitical tussles to result in an escalation of militarisation".

Vanuatu Prime Minister Sato Kilman also did not attend the summit.

He was elected two weeks ago to replace Ishmael Kalsakau, who lost a no-confidence vote for actions including signing a security pact with Australia.

The US is still negotiating to open an embassy in Vanuatu but has not significantly increased engagement with that nation, which counts China as its largest external creditor.

Fiji has welcomed the stronger US regional presence as making the Pacific "more secure" but Kiribati, one of the most remote Pacific island states, 4000km southwest of Hawaii, said this year it plans to upgrade a former World War II airstrip with Chinese assistance.

A $US29 million ($A45 million) program to assist Kiribati youth find work internationally was signed at the summit.

Washington renewed agreements this year with Palau and Micronesia that give it exclusive military access to strategic parts of the Pacific but has yet to do so with the Marshall Islands, which wants more money to deal with the legacy of massive US nuclear testing in the 1940s and 50s.

The summit statement said the US "plans to work expeditiously to meet the needs of the Republic of the Marshall Islands through ongoing Compact negotiations" and was committed to addressing its "ongoing environmental, public health concerns, and other welfare concerns".