The countries of the South Pacific have been transformed from small islands that the world hardly knows into the epicenter of a major crisis between China and the West.

While American leaders fret that China might eventually overtake the U.S. in developing artificial intelligence, Beijing is already way ahead of Washington in enacting rules for the new technology.

Between March 26 and April 2, U.S. Vice President Harris conducted a notable African tour, visiting three countries; observers saw this as direct engagement in the continent's power struggle with China and Russia.

U.S. officials see Africa as helping to solve two problems; the first is a global shortfall in the minerals that will be needed if the world is to meet its climate goals, and the second is China’s outsized influence on supply chains.