Why the sparsely-populated South Pacific islands have become the next US-China contest

The island nations that stretch across the South Pacific -- sparsely populated atolls and volcanic archipelagos, known more for tourism than lucrative natural resources -- may not seem, at first glance, to be a major geopolitical prize.

source https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/06/asia/china-pacific-islands-wang-yi-intl-hnk/index.html