Congress is failing to honor America’s financial commitments to America’s closest allies, turning important friends into castaways.
China has already been trying to win over these countries: Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.
If Beijing succeeds, China’s military will end up controlling vast swaths of the Pacific Ocean. The three republics include over 1,000 islands and atolls covering a maritime area larger than the continental U.S.
As a result, Chinese forces in new ports and bases will be in a position to block American shipping and aircraft, civilian and military, from crossing that body of water. Moreover, China will obtain facilities putting Hawaii and American territories, such as Guam, within striking distance.
The three countries were once United Nations trust territories that the U.S. administered. Now, they’re sovereign and have Compacts of Free Association with America, making them, from a defense and national security perspective, almost integral parts of the United States. The compacts, among other things, give the U.S. the right to deny other countries access to their territorial waters and airspace.
All three of the compacts were renegotiated last year, resulting in 20-year extensions.
Congress has not funded America’s obligations contained in the renewed compacts,........