The US and Micronesia on Monday agreed to renew a key strategic pact, US presidential envoy Joseph Yun said, adding that he hoped for similar progress with Palau, as the US shores up support among Pacific island states to counter competition from China.
Yun said the Compact of Free Association agreement (COFA) with Micronesia would be signed on Monday next week at a ceremony in Papua New Guinea, attended by US President Joe Biden and new Micronesian President Wesley Simina.
Yun said he expected to be in the Marshall Islands from tomorrow until Sunday, but was “doubtful” the COFA agreement could be finalized at the moment.
Photo: Reuters
Washington first reached the COFA accords with the three island states in the 1980s, under which it retains responsibility for their defense, and provides economic assistance, gaining exclusive access to huge strategic swaths of the Pacific in return.
Renewing the COFA agreements has become a key part of US efforts to push back against China’s bid to expand its influence in the Pacific.
Yun said he initialed the agreement with his Micronesian negotiating counterpart Leo Falcam and would formally sign it with him next week in Port Moresby on the sidelines of a second summit between the US and Pacific island leaders.
“It’s absolutely a done deal,” he said, adding: “I am [now] going to go to Palau. Where I hope to make similar progress.”
Biden next week would become the first sitting US president to visit Papua New Guinea following a G7 summit in Japan, underscoring his investment in the Pacific region to counter China.
The old COFA provisions expire this year for Micronesia and the Marshall Islands, and next year for Palau.
Yun gave no reason for the holdup with the Marshall Islands, which is expected to hold parliamentary elections in November.
Washington has already signed memorandums of understanding on future assistance with the three COFA states.
Yun last month said that the “topline” agreements would provide them with a total of about US$6.5 billion over 20 years.
Asked about the Marshall Islands, another senior US official said: “This is no longer about the amount of money but ... about how the money will be structured and how it will be spent and what issues it will cover.
“These are always politically very, very sensitive in each country,” he said.
“In the longer term, I’m very optimistic that we will get an agreement with RMI,” he said, referring to the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Last year, more than 100 arms-control, environmental and other activist groups urged the Biden administration to formally apologize to the Marshall Islands for the impact of massive US nuclear testing there and to provide fair compensation.
Marshall Islanders are still plagued by health and environmental effects of the 67 US nuclear bomb tests from 1946 to 1958, which included “Castle Bravo” at Bikini Atoll in 1954 - the largest US bomb ever detonated.
In related news, Papua New Guinea (PNG) Prime Minister James Marape yesterday said that the US had been a “silent” security partner to his nation, but that a defense cooperation agreement to be signed when Biden arrives on Monday next week would see Washington “stepping out.”
Marape confirmed that two security agreements would be signed — on defense cooperation and maritime surveillance.
“These signings will add value to our domestic security, as well as strengthen our own military, our police, our navy,” he told radio station 100FM.
The government would provide details on the agreements tomorrow, he said.
“The USA has been a strong security partner of us, but silent, almost deep at the back. Now for the first time now they are stepping out, coming to the front, engaging with PNG like never before,” he said.
Washington is seeking to nudge Pacific island nations away from security ties with China, after Beijing last year struck a security pact with Solomon Islands, and as tensions rise over Taiwan. PNG sits near crucial sea routes between Australia, Japan and the United States.
“At the moment in our waters, especially in our 200km waters, we have illegal fishing, we have illegal transportation, we have drug cartels... We want to ensure our country is secure from illegal activities,” he said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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