US establishes diplomatic relations with Niue, State Department says

The United States and Niue established diplomatic relations on Monday as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Niue Premier Dalton Tagelagi signed a joint statement to that effect, the U.S. State Department said.

The United States said earlier it will recognize the independence of Niue, a small Pacific nation, part of a U.S. charm offensive to block further Chinese inroads into a strategic region Washington has long considered its own backyard.