The US funding deal is good for the Pacific. But the key is what happens next | Meg Keen and Mihai Sora

A dysfunctional US Congress finally got its act together and approved a $7bn funding package for three Pacific nations. After years of negotiations and more recently, months of delay by US lawmakers, Congress late Friday cleared the way for the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia and Palau to renew the Compacts of Free Association (Cofa) agreements that fund critical services for the next two decades, and keep open a special migration pathway to the US. In return, the American military secures exclusive access to vast north Pacific territories and…

Congress ‘gradually destroying’ US relations with Pacific ally, Marshall Islands president warns

Hilda Heine, the president of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, has warned relations with the US are “gradually being destroyed by party politics” as Congress delays approval of crucial funding for the Pacific nation. US lawmakers have not yet passed funding packages agreed in 2023 with the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), in a move some argue is opening the door to China to build its influence in the Pacific region. “Members of the Congress have to understand that the funds that the US…

Culture, democracy and clout: why three Pacific countries are sticking with Taiwan

As a king tide swept through Tuvalu this month, flooding homes and disrupting local sea routes, changes in political currents were also buffeting the country. The wild weather delayed a key meeting between newly elected members of parliament to determine the successor to Tuvalu’s prime minister Kausea Natano, who lost his seat in January’s elections. The new prime minister will need to tackle pressing domestic issues and also wider regional concerns, namely its role in the geopolitical tussle for influence in the Pacific. Natano had been staunch in his government’s…

Ex-president demands inquiry into Marshall Islands ‘mini-state plot’

A former president of the Marshall Islands has called for an investigation into an alleged plot by a Chinese couple to establish a mini-state inside its borders and set it up as a lucrative tax-break haven. The pair were charged by US prosecutors with bribery and money-laundering offences over a “multi-year scheme” that included establishing a non-governmental organisation, allegedly bribing five Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) officials and attempting to bribe a sixth. One of the five was allegedly given cash to bribe others into supporting the carving out…

Pacific nations walk geopolitical tightrope over Ukraine war, as nuclear legacy looms

Some Pacific island nations have been left walking a geopolitical tightrope in their response to the war in Ukraine, as they try to balance regional alliances with both the west and China and Russia. Comments by Russian president Vladimir Putin, which many have interpreted as thinly veiled threats about the potential use of nuclear weapons have also touched a nerve in a region long affected by the catastrophic effects of nuclear weapons testing by the US, France and Britain. Pacific leaders have broadly lambasted the Russian assault, with the Federated…