WASHINGTON 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.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington)