U.S. Looking to Form Pacific Security Pacts to Counter China

By: - August 7, 2019

The Trump administration is actively seeking to lock in Pacific security pacts with regional nations, as concerns of Chinese expansion continue to perturb Washington.

Earlier this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said negotiations have begun with three Pacific island nations to renew a national security agreement. Under the terms of the deal, dubbed the Compact of Free Association (CFA), the U.S. military would get exclusive access to airspace and territorial waters of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau.

The intention to counter China with this deal was made rather explicit. “I’m pleased to announce the United States has begun negotiations on extending our compacts…. they sustain democracy in the face of Chinese efforts to redraw the Pacific,” Pompeo said in his statement announcing the CFA talks.

The administration has been reaching out diplomatically to Pacific nations for a while now. Laying the foundations for the current negotiations, U.S. President Donald Trump in May hosted the leaders of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau—a rare state visit for such small countries.

(Credit: Kahuroa/Wikimedia Commons)

Indeed, Trump and his team see these pacts as central to its counter-China strategy. Instead of facing China alone, the goal is to collect as much support from countries throughout the Pacific region. This was the goal of U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper on his recent visit to Australia, where he described China’s policies as both “aggressive” and “destabilizing.”

Not all administration efforts to build Pacific security pacts have been successful. Shortly after Esper left Australia, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that American ballistic missiles will not be deployed in his country.

While there have been ups and downs in America’s push for allies in the Pacific, what the U.S. has going for it is a general recognition that China has been on an increasingly aggressive path—Australia being a case in point. Despite a long history of economic and diplomatic ties, relations between Australia and China began to deteriorate in 2018. Canberra, Australia’s capital, insists that Beijing had been systematically interfering in its internal affairs.

  • RSS WND

    • WATCH: Tucker Carlson: How will AI affect work?
      Mike Rowe, still one of the best guys in the world. pic.twitter.com/06WduOhPuB — Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 28, 2024 For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider! Content created… […]
    • MSNBC: 1 man's 'election denier' is another man's TV host
      MSNBC, the "news" outfit on which the Rev. Al Sharpton has a show, briefly hired former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, at $300,000 per year, to serve as an on-air pundit. Why did the rabidly anti-Trump, anti-Republican network make her the offer? MSNBC likely did so because 2024 is an election year; McDaniel was… […]
    • Dems' weakest case against Trump is first to go to trial
      Donald Trump was first indicted nearly a year ago, on April 4, 2023, when Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced charges against the former president over a nondisclosure agreement Trump used to buy the silence of porn actress Stormy Daniels, with whom he had apparently had a brief sexual encounter. Bragg, an elected Democrat, won… […]
    • White House adds hair-sniffing contest to Easter Egg Roll!
      It's about time again for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. What the resurrection of Jesus has to do with eggs, chocolate candy, jelly beans or peeps is beyond me. Jesus did not arise from the dead and walk through the walls of the tomb holding an Easter basket and looking for eggs laid… […]
    • Say it, media: DEMOCRATS are prosecuting Trump
      On March 25, "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart uncorked a typical not-so-funny sermon about how Donald Trump overvaluing real estate properties was not a "victimless crime." Trump has been found liable for fraud despite no banker or financier ever claiming Trump victimized them. Then the New York Post reported talk-show host Tim Pool tweeted that… […]
    • Our subsidiarity vs. their intersectionality: How we win
      In their weekly podcast, Hollywood veteran Loy Edge and longtime WND columnist Jack Cashill skirt the everyday politics downstream and travel merrily upstream to the source of our extraordinary culture. The post Our subsidiarity vs. their intersectionality: How we win appeared first on WND.
    • The shocking beliefs of America's powerful 'elites'
      It is becoming increasingly clear that some of America's most serious problems can be traced back to our colleges and universities – or at least the ones educating the country's most powerful people. The Vietnam War era aside, it has traditionally been uncommon for events at universities to make national headlines. Absent something extraordinary, like… […]
    • Who is really behind Moscow terror attack?
      Was the Islamic State (ISIS) behind the Crocus City Hall terror attack in Moscow that killed 139 and wounded 182 on March 22, 2024, or not? The Islamic State did claim the attack, and the Western mainstream is agreed that the terror group was, indeed, behind it. On March 25, White House press secretary Karine… […]
    • Only Democrats get to lie on NBC News
      Ronna McDaniel, formerly chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, was recently hired and subsequently fired by NBC News when the "talent," unable to countenance even moderate dissent, revolted on air. The entire kerfuffle is unsurprising considering the state of modern "media." But one of the funniest moments of the McDaniel blowup came when host and… […]
    • Accept $40,000 loan offer from 'FIL'?
      Dear Dave, My wife and I owe about $40,000 on our mortgage. My father-in-law, who is a very nice and generous man, said he wants to pay off the house for us, then let us pay him back over time. We've borrowed much smaller amounts of money from him in the past, and we were… […]
  • Enter My WorldView