It is high on the American priority to figure out if there's a way that they can be helpful in engaging diplomatically with the Fiji Government.
In a testimony before the Asia Pacific subcommittee of the House Foreign Relations Committee, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia, Kurt Campbell said the US is ready for dialogue with Fiji.
But Campbell tied this to Fiji holding free and fair elections no later than 2014.
The chair of the subcommittee, Congressman Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin of American Samoa, is critical of Australia and New Zealand's policy of isolating Fiji, which he said are counterproductive.
Campbell said the US is taking the issue of Fiji seriously stating it is the centre, sort of architecturally, of transportation and the like in the Pacific.
Campbell said they are stepping up their coordination and dialogue with New Zealand and Australia who they also believe have key critical interests in Fiji.
He said they now hope, in close coordination with regional players, to seek more direct engagement with Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama to encourage his government to take steps to restore democracy and freedom that would allow movement toward normalization of Fiji's relations with other countries in the region.
Campbell said this engagement would spotlight the potential benefits of positive political steps, while reinforcing the message that any easing of U.S sanctions is tied to the restoration of democratic processes.
Story by: Roneel Lal
