Biden Hosts Pacific Islands, With a Rising China in Mind

President Biden hosted the leaders of 18 Pacific Island nations at the White House on Monday, the second gathering of its kind in a year and the latest illustration of a regional competition for influence between the United States and China. Speaking to the leaders at the White House on Monday, Mr. Biden invoked America’s World War II campaign against Japan in the region, and, without naming China, implied that another kind of battle was now underway. “Like our forebears during World War II, we know that a great deal…