Donald Trump's foreign aid freeze has halted vital projects in the South Pacific, aid workers and analysts say, risking lives and hurting US efforts to woo the region.

Disaster-prone, isolated, and threatened by rising seas, tropical Pacific island states are some of the most aid-reliant nations on Earth, development agencies say.

They are also at the centre of a contest pitting China against the United States, Australia and other allies in a scramble for diplomatic, financial and military influence in the region.

For years the United States has helped to buy life-saving medicine for tropical disease, combat illegal fishing, and better prepare coastal hamlets for earthquakes and typhoons.

These projects and many more are in limbo after the US president declared last month that USAID's $42 billion budget would be mostly frozen for 90 days.

"We work really hard for this programme and the communities will lose trust in us," said Heyer Vavozo, who manages a marine conservation charity in Solomon Islands.

Positive Change for Marine Life has had to lay off staff as it waits to........

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