The Biden administration remained dedicated to its alliances in the strategically significant Indo-Pacific area, one day after a US$95 billion foreign assistance package omitted economic help pledged for the region as the US strives to counter China’s influence there. We at the White House and State Department are still in favor of funding authorization and appropriation. Deputy assistant secretary Camille Dawson of the US State Department stated, “We feel it’s critically important to continue working in close concert and in support of the freely associated states,” referring to the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau. Dawson said this in answer to a query from the Post at a press conference on the second anniversary of US President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific Strategy announcement.
Navigating a Strategic Landscape
The agreement is viewed as critical to Washington’s efforts to sustain its presence in the Indo-Pacific region, where US Secretary of State Antony Blinken once declared that “our planet’s future will be written,” despite growing concerns about what some have called Beijing’s coercive influence campaign.
That tactic may have its roots in the Compact of Free Association (Cofa), an agreement that has guided US relations with the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau for many years. First signed in 1986, the Cofa accord provides financial help and a legal framework allowing its residents to live, work, and attend school in the United States in exchange for the US military having access to the land, air, and sea of the three Pacific island nations. While Palau’s Cofa program is scheduled to expire in September, that of the Marshall Islands and Micronesia expired on September 30. Last year, new agreements were established and extended, and Biden promised the three nations US$7.1 billion spread over 20 years.
China’s Lobbying Offensive
Although it seemed that there was considerable bipartisan support for the new conditions, Congress still needs to approve the promised funding. U.S. senators have been at odds over federal spending for months. The three claimed that their nations had successfully increased US defenses over a region “larger than the 48 contiguous United States, stretching from west of Hawaii to the Philippines and Indonesia” in a letter dated February 6 to several Senate leaders. The message went on to say that Washington has early-warning radar equipment and missile bases in Palau.
It referred to a facility in the Marshall Islands that was described as the world’s best range for testing intercontinental ballistic missiles and conducting military space operations by the former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey. A selfless swim in the inner lagoon of Palau. Palau, which is well-known for its rich marine life, has experienced economic hardship recently due to the coronavirus outbreak and a decline in Chinese visitors. Image courtesy of Shutterstock. The letter also said that the US was able to do military drills in Micronesia because of the Cofa agreement.
The Stakes for US-Pacific Relations
The Pacific leaders acknowledged that there was a reasonable delay in funding, but they said that “it has generated uncertainty among our peoples.” They alluded to public unease and Beijing’s lobbying in the area when they said, “As much [as] they identify with and appreciate the United States, which formerly governed our islands, this has resulted in undesirable opportunities for economic exploitation by competitive political actors active in the Pacific.”
Roughly 40% of Micronesia’s yearly revenue comes from US subsidies, which have a significant impact on the economy of the three island republics. About 70% of the Marshall Islands’ GDP is financed by the US. Since China ceased sending visitors to Palau in 2018 due to the latter’s recognition of Taiwan, which Beijing views as a part of China that should be rejoined by force if necessary, the island nation has experienced economic hardship. A price was paid for the coronavirus epidemic as well.
In conclusion, Taiwan is recognized as an independent state by the majority of nations, including the US, but Washington is determined to arm the self-governing island and opposes any effort at invasion. Palau is unable to move. Palau may have to borrow money and make budget cuts, including to pensions, if the funding isn’t approved swiftly. This would make the island nation even more susceptible to external influence and internal unrest, according to Cleo Paskal of the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, a Washington think tank, in a recent opinion piece. According to Charles Edel and Kathryn Paik of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a different Washington think tank, the US was in danger of making a major strategic error if it stops funding a little-known but crucially important agreement. They made this statement in a separate article published last month.
