"US official says Pacific leaders endorsed joint statement one day after leaked documents showed discord among the group over proposals".
"The United States said at a summit with Pacific island leaders that it had agreed on a partnership for the future with them and held out the prospect of “big dollar” help to a region where it hopes to stem China’s expanding influence.
The Washington Post quoted US officials as saying the Biden administration would announce it would invest more than $860m in expanded programs to aid the islands at the two-day summit, on top of more than $1.5bn provided in the past decade.
The White House had no immediate comment on the funding figure, but a US official said the newspaper’s reporting that all the visiting leaders had endorsed an 11-point statement of vision committing to joint endeavours was accurate."
