[Text: Observer Network Tong Li].
Among the $118 billion budget requests announced by U.S. senators from both parties, there are Ukraine and Israel, but the three South Pacific island countries that originally had a share of the Marshall Islands and Palau unexpectedly lost their names, provoking the three countries to send an urgent letter to the United States ......
This week, due to multiple influences such as partisanship and **, the U.S. plan to fund key strategic partners continued to be shelved. Biden hyped "giving China a chance", and the American conservative think tank also exaggerated that "time is not on the side of the United States, and the longer it drags on, the more likely China is to make a move".
China is frequently forced to "appear on camera", but if Washington fails to give money as planned, the answer is self-evident to who will damage its credibility.
On February 8, Chen Hong, executive director of the Asia-Pacific Research Center of East China Normal University, pointed out in an interview with the Observer that the sovereignty of the Marshall Islands and other three countries was "completely ignored" by the United States, and was once used as a nuclear test base unscrupulously, and was marginalized after the end of the Cold War until the United States relaunched its Indo-Pacific strategy.
In his view, the United States is now more of a "pie", and even the first aid payment** has not been implemented.
As for China's cooperation with Pacific island countries, Chen Hong said, "If we don't succeed, our opponents will be dismissive; If an adversary goes out of its way to make promises of assistance while vilifying China's cooperation on the ground, it is a sign that China has done a good job in this regard, causing it to generate strategic panic. ”
Here it is again, the United States hyped "giving China a chance"....
On the 7th local time, the U.S. Senate voted 50 against and 49 in favor of a $118 billion supplementary budget bill. The bill, which would combine U.S. aid to Ukraine, Israel and other countries and regions with domestic border security measures**, was voted against by a majority of Republicans in the Senate.
On February 7, 2024 local time, in Washington, D.C., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell walked to his office as he voted at the Capitol. Picture from Visual China.
veto, almost expected. Rather, it is another detail that adds to the anxiety of the Pacific island nations — the final version of the budget request does not include U.S. funding support for the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau, signatories to the Agreement of Free Association (COFA). Until last week, the draft also included COFA funding.
Nikkei Asia hyped that the South Pacific region continues to be at the forefront of strategic competition between China and the United States, and that COFA allows the United States to use the three South Pacific island countries as "shields" against China. But the U.S. Congress has been failing to approve COFA funding for months, a void that China could fill as the U.S. and China vie for influence in the South Pacific.
Japanese media further exaggerated that if the COFA agreement fails, it will have a huge impact on US military operations.
The United States plans to install an advanced radar system in Palau in 2026, and the Marshall Islands is the main U.S. missile testing site. In conflicts related to the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, these three countries could become logistics bases for the US military. If China's influence in these countries grows, it will be more challenging for the United States to maintain supply lines to Australia, which is an important ally of the United States in supporting military operations in an emergency.
Photo from the South China Morning Post
Sabrina Singh, a deputy Pentagon spokeswoman, declared on Tuesday that the Defense Department was "absolutely concerned" that congressional delays could give China an "opportunity" in the Pacific island nations.
The Chinese side has repeatedly stressed that it has no intention of competing with anyone for influence in the Pacific island countries region, nor is it interested in engaging in geopolitical competition.
The once marginalized island nation of the South Pacific is now "of great significance to the United States."
Whether we have succeeded or not depends only on how hard our opponents slander and attack us. On February 8, Chen Hong, executive director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies at East China Normal University, spoke the essence of a series of speeches by American politicians in an interview with the Observer.
Why does Biden frequently allude to China's "taking advantage of the situation" in an attempt to strengthen the relationship between the United States and COFA countries? This also starts with the US military setting foot on the Pacific islands.
Chen Hong introduced that during World War II, the United States and Japan fought for these Pacific islands, and used the "island hopping tactic" to go to the Japanese mainland step by step. After the end of World War II, many islands were effectively under the control of the United States and its allies. The Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau, despite gaining independence, surrendered all of their defense to the United States.
In the 80s of the last century, the United States reached the "Free Association Agreement" with the three countries mentioned above, which involved the United States providing economic assistance to the three "free association countries" in exchange for the United States maintaining the sole and unrestricted military access to the territory, shipping lanes and airspace of these countries.
Chen Hong pointed out that the United States has essentially incorporated these three island countries into its national defense system, completely ignoring local sovereignty. For example, during the Cold War, the United States recklessly conducted nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands under the framework of this agreement, and also transported nuclear test waste in the United States to landfill, causing great damage to local life safety and ecology. To this day, the prevalence of leukemia in and around the Marshall Islands is very high.
On May 21, 1956, the United States dropped a hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands** Data map.
After the complete defeat of Japan and the end of the Cold War, the United States believed that the strategic significance of the South Pacific island countries was no longer there, so it began to reduce its investment in the South Pacific region, and the three countries were gradually marginalized by the United States.
However, after the launch of the Indo-Pacific strategy, the United States has realized the important strategic location of the South Pacific region. He added that the three countries are relatively far north in the South Pacific region and close to China's South China Sea and Taiwan Strait regions, which can cooperate with the United States' military deployment in ** and other places, which is of great significance to the United States.
The longer the U.S. Congress drags on, the more likely China is to intervene"?
After years of painstaking negotiations, Biden** last year laid out a new 20-year, $7.1 billion grant package for the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau, seeking to continue to trade economic aid for military cooperation.
Technically, the U.S. agreement with the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands expires in 2023, and the agreement with Palau expires in 2024.
The new agreement was then submitted to the U.S. Congress, and then it was deadlocked, dragging on for months.
At first, it was thought it would be included in the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024, which was passed last December, according to The Diplomat.
But lawmakers from both parties are arguing over spending priorities, with Republicans demanding spending cuts elsewhere to offset any new spending. From the US Department of Defense to the Department of the Interior, no one has come up with a politically acceptable solution. As a result, COFA renewal support was not included in the National Defense Authorization Act.
Later, it was thought it would be included in the emergency supplementary budget request, and until last week, the draft also included a request for COFA funding.
The report pointed out that if you have been paying attention to American politics, you know that this is a politically controversial bill that involves border security and aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. When the official draft was released last Sunday, COFA was not among them, even though there was little hope of passing the bill.
So far, despite bipartisan consensus on its importance, the COFA renewal has been delayed for months and has not hitched a ride on any legislative agenda.
Andrew Harding, a research associate at the Center for Asian Studies at the Heritage Society, a conservative think tank in the United States, said that "Congress's failure to fund the COFA agreement is a strategic misstep." Time is not on the side of the United States, and the longer it drags on, the more likely China is to intervene. ”
Charles Edel, head of the Australian field at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan US think tank, praised Biden** for his renewed focus on the Pacific islands, but added: "The political battle for congressional budget appropriations is not over, and if Washington fails to provide funding on negotiated terms, it will greatly damage the credibility of the United States in the region and call into question the reliability of the American promise." ”
Grant Newsham, a retired Navy colonel and senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy, testified before Congress that if the COFA renewal fails, the U.S. will pay about $100 billion a year for ships, aircraft, missiles, submarines and troops to secure the 5.6 million square kilometers covered by those countries.
The United States has spared no effort to 'draw pies' and slander China, and it can be seen that we have indeed done a good job."
There is an argument that no other country on the planet has such a deep relationship with the United States – except for defense relations, citizens of the three countries can live and work in the United States, and all three countries even have U.S. zip codes.
On February 6, Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia** sent a letter to U.S. Senate leadership, emphasizing "the need for legislation to strengthen our 'unity' and make it viable."
If the appropriations are not approved soon, Palau may have to cut spending, including pensions, which will make it more vulnerable to internal instability and external influences, the report said. Surangel Whipps JrSpeaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in December, the budget delay "may raise concerns about our confidence that the United States** will deliver on its promises." ”
Wesley Simina, Federated States of Micronesia, also told Radio New Zealand that his country could face a fiscal cliff if the U.S. Congress does not approve the budget.
He said in November last year: "We will have to look for other funds**....It's not going to come right away. ”
Foreign media have observed that since China reached a "surprise" security agreement with the Solomon Islands in April 2022, Biden** and the U.S. Congress have re-strengthened diplomatic contacts with Pacific island countries. Biden has twice hosted the newly launched Pacific Islands summit at the White House. Last year, the United States reopened its embassy in the Solomon Islands for the first time in nearly 30 years.
Washington, D.C., September 25, 2023 -- Biden chaired the second U.S.-Pacific Islands Summit at the White House, seeking to strengthen its influence in the South Pacific region. Image from ic photo
But on a more practical basis, partisanship, U.S. plans to fund key strategic partners have been shelved.
Chen Hong told the Observer that the $7 billion is very attractive to the three island countries, but the $7 billion will be paid over 20 years, which is politically and economically uncertain. So this is more of a "pie painting", and now even the first payment ** has not been implemented.
The United States is mired in two conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and is in a state of economic stagnation, and the country will usher in **. In a state of neglecting one thing at the expense of the other, the United States weighed the South Pacific region as soon as it weighed it. So despite the strategic importance of COFA to the United States, there was a stalemate in the amount of American aid to the three island nations. ”
Regarding the "China taking advantage of the situation" hyped by Biden and foreign media reports, Chen Hong also pointed out that we have seen that, especially in the past ten years, China and Pacific island countries have respected and understood each other, benefited each other, and achieved fruitful cooperation, which has been welcomed by the local people and the people.
If we don't succeed, our opponents will be dismissive; If an adversary goes out of its way to make promises of assistance while vilifying China's cooperation on the ground, it is a sign that China has done a good job in this regard, causing it to generate strategic panic. ”
At the same time, the spokesperson has already stated that China has no objection to the development of relations between countries and Pacific island countries, and is willing to work with relevant parties to give full play to its advantages and form an international synergy to promote the development and revitalization of island countries.
Chen Hong further pointed out that in contrast, the cooperation between certain countries and Pacific island countries is often exclusive, and the so-called "taking advantage of the situation" is simply a pretext for the purpose of slandering and excluding China.
He said that the assistance provided by the United States and the West in the local area is actually to a large extent the so-called "system building" and "capacity improvement", that is, the development of the so-called Western democratic system in the local area, and the transplantation of Western ideas and cognition to the local "first-class". In this way, although a lot of money has been invested, the people do not see what is real, but rather the Western system that is not adaptable.
In other words, the so-called assistance and attention of the United States to the South Pacific region are actually based on its own interests, using them as strategic tools or as a strategic tool, and the people of the South Pacific island countries are increasingly aware of this, and the COFA funding problem is also a wake-up call. ”