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Updated April 25, 2022
The Pacific Islands
Overview
intercontinental ballistic missile test site (Ronald Reagan
In recent years, the Pacific Islands region in the Southwest
Missile Test Site) on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall
Pacific has re-emerged as an area of keen interest to major
Islands, which also supports space surveillance activities.
powers, largely due to the People’s Republic of China’s
The Department of Defense is building a high-frequency
(PRC’s or China’s) expanding engagement in the region.
radar system in Palau. The United States has military ties
The region has strategic significance for the United States
with Fiji, PNG, and Tonga, the only PICs with regular
and hosts key U.S. military installations. Major issues
military forces. The Biden Administration’s Indo-Pacific
affecting the Pacific Islands include international tensions,
Strategy, released in February 2022, states that the United
economic development, illegal fishing, climate change, and
States “will work with partners to establish a multilateral
issues related to self-determination and decolonization. The
strategic grouping that supports Pacific Island countries as
Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is the region’s main political
they build their capacity and resilience as secure,
and economic policy organization with 18 members: 14
independent actors.”
Pacific Island countries (PICs), two French “overseas
collectivities,” Australia, and New Zealand.
Figure 1. The Pacific Islands Region and Subregions
Some PICs, such as Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Fiji, are
relatively large with extensive natural resources; others are
quite small, sitting on top of low-lying coral atolls, with
limited economic prospects and high vulnerability to the
effects of climate change and sea level rise. Over half of the
world’s tuna is harvested in the region. Many PICs rely on
fisheries, tourism, and remittances for revenue. Although
their remoteness helped most PICs to minimize
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections, travel
and border restrictions have disrupted tourism and trade.
In February 2022, Antony Blinken visited Fiji, the first U.S.
Secretary of State to visit the country in 26 years, as part of
an effort to bolster U.S. engagement in the region. Blinken
pledged assistance on climate change, COVID-19 vaccines,
Source: Congressional Research Service.
and illegal fishing, and announced that the State
The United States has shiprider agreements with 11 PICs,
Department would reopen its embassy in the Solomon
which allow local law enforcement officers to embark on
Islands (SI) after 29 years.
U.S. naval and coast guard ships in order to board and
Geopolitical Context
search vessels suspected of violating laws and to combat
Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. The
The PICs are scattered over a broad expanse of ocean and
Department of State provides $21 million annually in
are divided among three sub-regions—Melanesia,
assistance to Pacific Island parties to the South Pacific Tuna
Polynesia, and Micronesia (see Figure 1). The United
Treaty (SPTT) to support sustainable fisheries in the region.
States has long held major economic and strategic roles in
the Micronesian subregion, home to two U.S. territories
The Department of State and U.S. Agency for International
(Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands) and to the Freely
Development (USAID) provide development assistance to
Associated States (FAS)—Republic of the Marshall Islands
the Pacific Islands region focusing on disaster prevention
(RMI), Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), and
and response, climate resiliency and environmental
Republic of Palau—which have special economic and
protection, government and civil society, digital
security ties with the United States. U.S. territory American
connectivity, fisheries, energy, basic health, and HIV/AIDS
Samoa lies in the Polynesian subregion. Australia and New
prevention and treatment in PNG. In 2019, the Department
Zealand maintain strong relations with much of the
of State launched a new Pacific Islands regional assistance
Southwest Pacific, particularly in Melanesia.
program. Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the United
The United States and the Region
States collaborate on the Papua New Guinea Electrification
Partnership, launched in 2018, which assists PNG in
The United States has significant military assets in the
expanding access to electricity.
Pacific. U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, based in Hawaii,
encompasses Oceania as part of its area of responsibility.
In 2019 and 2020, the Department of State, as part of its
The United States has air and naval bases on Guam and an
“Pacific Pledge,” committed a total of $300 million in new
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The Pacific Islands
U.S. assistance, including $130 million to respond to
Sogavare’s close ties with China. Australian, New Zealand,
COVID-19 in the region. In the 117th Congress, a wide-
and U.S. observers have expressed concern that China’s
ranging bill, Boosting Long-term U.S. Engagement in the
military presence could undermine democracy in SI as well
Pacific Act (BLUE Pacific Act, H.R. 2967), would increase
as regional security. Sogavare’s decision to switch
U.S. assistance to the Pacific Islands region aimed at
diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the PRC in 2019,
promoting governmental capacity, trade, climate resiliency,
combined with inter-ethnic tensions, culminated in anti-
and civil society.
government demonstrations in Honiara, the capital, by
people from Malaita province in November 2021.
The Freely Associated States
The United States and the FAS are negotiating the
Security Challenges and U.S. and Allied
extension of economic assistance pursuant to the Compacts
Responses
of Free Association, which is set to expire at the end of
Some reports suggest China is interested in developing
FY2023 for the RMI and FSM and FY2024 for Palau, while
dual-use ports and airfields in the region. A PRC company
defense-related and other provisions are to continue.
constructed a wharf in Vanuatu in 2017, although Vanuatu
Negotiations began in 2020 but stalled in 2021. In March
leaders denied discussions about a PRC military base. In
2022, the Biden Administration appointed Ambassador
2018, Australia outbid China to fund upgrades at Blackrock
Joseph Yun as the new Special Presidential Envoy for
military camps in Nadi, Fiji, and Australia and the United
Compact Negotiations. (See CRS Report R46573, The
States agreed to jointly develop Lombrum naval base in
Freely Associated States and Issues for Congress.)
PNG to preempt PRC investment. Observers have
expressed concern China will recommission the satellite
From 1946 to 1958, the United States conducted 67
tracking station in Kiribati it built prior to Kiribati
atmospheric atomic and thermonuclear weapons tests over
establishing relations with Taiwan (from 2003 to 2019).
the Marshall Islands atolls of Bikini and Enewetak. The
U.S. government has provided compensation and funding to
The United States, Australia, and Japan have cooperated on
the Marshall Islands for nuclear test-related injuries,
efforts to address cybersecurity and other security concerns
damages, health care, and soil remediation through the
posed by China in the region. In 2019, Australia financed
Compact of Free Association and congressional ex gratia
an undersea telecommunications cable connecting PNG, the
payments. Some Members of Congress, argue that the
Solomon Islands, and Australia, thereby precluding Chinese
United States should provide additional assistance to the
telecommunications firm Huawei from successfully
Marshall Islands to address lingering issues related to the
competing for the project. In 2020 and 2021, the three
nuclear weapons tests.
countries partnered to finance undersea telecommunications
cables for Palau, Kiribati, Micronesia, and Nauru. In 2021,
International Assistance
the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom
The top foreign assistance donors to the PICs are Australia,
(U.K.) signed the AUKUS agreement, allowing Australia to
New Zealand, Japan, and the United States. Other large
build nuclear-powered submarines with U.S. and U.K.
providers include China, the European Union, and Taiwan.
technology.
Taiwan has diplomatic relations with 4 PICs (Marshall
Islands, Nauru, Palau, and Tuvalu), while China has
Climate Change
relations with 10. Unlike other major aid donors in the
Climate change and related sea level rise present an
region, the PRC provides most of its development
existential threat to several PICs. Some studies project that
assistance in the form of loans rather than grants. Some
groundwater contamination and damage to crops and
analysts fear that Chinese lending could lead to
infrastructure will render many low-lying Pacific atoll
unsustainable debt burdens among some PICs and greater
islands uninhabitable within decades. PICs were among the
PRC leverage in the region. Most U.S. assistance to the
first countries to ratify the Paris climate accord. PIC leaders
PICs is provided to the FAS pursuant to the Compacts of
agreed on an expanded concept of security in the 2018 Boe
Free Association, with funds appropriated by the
Declaration on Regional Security, which states that climate
Department of the Interior.
change remains “the single greatest threat” to the Pacific.
China’s Influence
Self Determination
The PRC has become a significant actor in the region
In a third referendum vote in November 2021, New
through diplomacy, economic engagement, and
Caledonia, which has large nickel deposits, voted to remain
infrastructure and other construction. As of 2021, China had
part of France. Indigenous Kanak boycotted the
8 embassies among the PICs compared to the United States’
referendum, which may undermine the legitimacy of the
6, and regularly hosts Pacific Island leaders in Beijing. The
vote and possibly lead to political unrest. In a nonbinding
PRC is a significant market for PIC natural resource exports
2019 referendum, 98% of the inhabitants of the island of
and tourism. China’s rapidly expanding fishing fleet in the
Bougainville in PNG voted for independence. The
region has contributed significantly to IUU fishing.
Bougainville and PNG governments are in the process of
negotiating a roadmap for independence which must be
In March 2022, the Solomon Islands and China signed a
approved by the PNG parliament.
security agreement that potentially could allow China to
send its security forces to help maintain social order in SI;
Thomas Lum, Specialist in Asian Affairs
some observers fear it could allow PRC naval visits. SI
Bruce Vaughn, Specialist in Asian Affairs
opposition leaders have opposed Prime Minister Manasseh
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The Pacific Islands
IF11208
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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF11208 · VERSION 4 · UPDATED