If China goes after Taiwan without ‘disabling’ Palau, its Taiwan operation could be jeopardized. Which is one of the reasons the U.S. is putting new military infrastructure, or, in some cases, bringing back to life World War II era infrastructure, in Palau.
China in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands
We have a country that is geopolitically sophisticated, with close ties to the U.S., Japan and Taiwan, and is in a highly strategic location. So who showed up to Palau’s party, and who didn’t?
In October 2024, Suidani and Talifilu were arrested by Solomon Islands police under unusual circumstances. On December 19th, Australia announced it was giving Solomons AUS$190 million ‘to grow the size and capability of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF), in response to a request by Solomon Islands’.
There is a spike in activity now because China sees Palau’s 5 November election as an opportunity to put in place representatives that are more in line with its ambitions.
There is a lot going on in the Republic of Palau, a country of over 300 islands and around 20,000 people southeast of the Philippines. Its strategic location has meant Palau has been subject to waves of...
Excerpt Guam and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)—constituent parts of the United States—sit in such proximity to the Asian coast that the CNMI shares a maritime border with Japan....
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What does it mean for the FSM to tell China it opposes AUKUS and supports the Global Security Initiative?
Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands are the United States’ closest allies. And they’re essential for a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Tony Zielinski is a regular American citizen, who was enjoying his life in Florida. Then he read about the problems with the renewals of key elements of the Compacts of Free Association with Palau, the...
Welcome back to the Biden Administration Foreign Policy Tracker. Once a month, we ask FDD’s experts and scholars to assess the administration’s foreign policy...
The U.S. government concluded COFA renewal talks with Palau, Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands in 2023. Months later, Congress has yet to approve the funding.
I have no idea what the U.S. State Department was thinking. But if the goal was to help honest people in a highly strategic country that is also a close ally protect themselves against Chinese influence...
Three things are going on that could turbo charge Chinese strategic expansion in the Pacific. U.S. DEFENCE ARCHITECTURE IN THE PACIFIC The first two involve what are known as the “Compact States”....
Australia gets a remarkable set of rights from the Pacific island country of Tuvalu in exchange for things it can mostly find a reason to not do if it wants.
On Oct. 1, U.S. government financial support and federal services expired in the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands, two of the three U.S. freely associated states. The third is...
Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero, the Governor of Guam, a US territory, is not just waiting for the rest of the US to come save them. In this interview conducted in July, she describes some of the initiatives she is hoping to get off the ground so Guam is better able to defend itself.
New, exclusive interview with former President of Federated States of Micronesia, David W. Panuelo.