Warily eyeing China’s Pacific influence, US talks up US$7.1 billion in aid
- Leaders in Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau had warned delays could force governments to cut services, and swayed public opinion towards China
- The aid makes up a significant portion of the small island nations’ budgets and is critical for health services, infrastructure and education
The renewal of funds for the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau – known collectively as the Freely Associated States – had been held up for months by broader infighting in Congress over budgetary issues, even though they enjoyed widespread bipartisan support.
Palau President Surangel Whipps Jnr, who faces an election later this year, cautioned in a February letter that was made public that the Chinese Communist Party was seeking to take advantage of the American delay.
“Every day it is not approved plays into the hands of the CCP and the leaders here … who want to accept its seemingly attractive economic offers at the cost of shifting alliances, beginning with sacrificing Taiwan,” he wrote.
“The PRC has already offered to ‘fill every hotel room’ in our tourism-based private sector – ‘and more if more are built’ – and US$20 million a year for two acres for a call centre,” he wrote, using the abbreviation for the People’s Republic of China.
