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Updated November 14, 2023
The Pacific Islands
Overview
• In 2022, Fiji became the first PIC to join the Indo-
The Pacific Islands region in the Southwest Pacific has
Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity
emerged as an area of growing interest to major powers,
(IPEF) initiative, launched by the Biden
due to the region’s strategic location and significant
Administration in 2022.
resources. The region has strategic significance for the
United States; it includes the state of Hawaii, several U.S.
• In May 2023, the United States and Papua New
territories, and three “freely associated” countries, and hosts
Guinea signed a Defense Cooperation Agreement
key U.S. military installations. Congressional
(DCA) and an Agreement Concerning Counter
considerations include bolstering diplomacy in the region;
Illicit Transnational Maritime Activity Operations.
funding assistance in areas such as climate change,
The DCA allows the U.S. military to develop and
sustainable fisheries, and economic development;
operate out of bases in PNG with the PNG
addressing security and other threats posed by the People’s
government’s approval.
Republic of China (PRC or China), including by working
• In September 2023, the U.S. government
with allies; and extending assistance to the Freely
announced that it would establish formal
Associated States (FAS, see below).
diplomatic relations with the Cook Islands and
Some Pacific Island countries (PICs), such as Papua New
Niue, two countries that have “free association”
Guinea (PNG) and Fiji, are relatively large with extensive
status with New Zealand.
natural resources; others are quite small, sitting on top of
Bills in the 118th Congress that support the above and
low-lying coral atolls, with limited economic prospects and
related efforts in the Pacific Islands region include H.R.
high vulnerability to the effects of climate change and sea
4538, S. 1220, and the National Defense Authorization Act
level rise. Many PICs rely on fisheries, tourism, and
for FY2024 (H.R. 2670, §§1368 and 6405).
remittances as their chief sources of revenue. PICs were
among the first countries to ratify the 2015 Paris Climate
Figure 1. The Pacific Islands Region and Subregions
Agreement on climate change. PIC leaders agreed on an
expanded concept of security in the 2018 Boe Declaration
on Regional Security, which states that climate change
remains “the single greatest threat” to the Pacific.
The Trump Administration increased foreign assistance to
the Pacific Islands, and the Biden Administration has
further expanded U.S. engagement in the region. The Biden
Administration held the first U.S.-Pacific Islands Forum
Summit in September 2022, during which it announced the
U.S. Pacific Partnership Strategy and other initiatives, as
well as $810 million in “additional expanded programs” for
the region, subject to congressional approval.
At the second U.S.-Pacific Islands Forum Summit, held in
September 2023, the Biden Administration announced that
it would ask Congress for $200 million in additional
Source: Congressional Research Service
funding for the region. Since 2022, proposed expanded
programing for the region has included support for
Geopolitical Context
managing fisheries and combatting illegal, unreported, and
The PICs are scattered over a broad expanse of ocean and
unregulated (IUU) fishing; addressing the effects of climate
divided among three subregions—Melanesia, Polynesia,
change; infrastructure investment; development financing;
and Micronesia (see Figure 1). The United States has long
security cooperation; and digital connectivity and
held major economic and strategic roles in the Micronesian
cybersecurity. Other U.S. efforts include the following:
subregion, home to two U.S. territories (Guam and the
• The United States has established new embassies
Northern Mariana Islands) and to the Freely Associated
in the Solomon Islands (SI) and Tonga, with plans
States—Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Federated
to open embassies in Vanuatu and Kiribati.
States of Micronesia (FSM), and Republic of Palau. U.S.
•
territory American Samoa lies in the Polynesian subregion,
In 2022, the State Department designated
where France has territories and military bases. Australia
Ambassador Frankie Reed as the first-ever U.S.
and New Zealand maintain strong relations with much of
Envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum.
the region, particularly in Melanesia.
https://crsreports.congress.gov
The Pacific Islands
The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is the main multinational
China’s Influence
organization in the region. Headquartered in Fiji, the PIF
China has become a significant actor in the region through
has 18 members—14 PICs, two French “overseas
diplomacy and economic engagement. The PRC is an
collectivities,” Australia, and New Zealand.
important market for PIC natural resource exports and
tourism. Ten PICs have joined China’s Belt and Road
The United States and the Region
Initiative, which promotes PRC-backed infrastructure
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, based in Hawaii, encompasses
development. China’s fishing fleet in the region reportedly
the Pacific Islands as part of its area of responsibility. The
has contributed significantly to IUU fishing. In 2022, the
U.S. military has air and naval bases on Guam and operates
PRC proposed a diplomatic, economic, and security pact
the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site at
between China and the region that was dropped due to
Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The Department of
objections among some PICs. According to some reports,
Defense is building a high-frequency radar system in Palau.
China has interfered in domestic politics in the region,
The U.S. military has ties with Fiji, PNG, and Tonga, the
particularly in the RMI and the Solomon Islands.
only PICs with regular armed forces. The Biden
Administration’s
According to some analysts, the Solomon Islands has
Indo-Pacific Strategy (February 2022)
states that the United States “will work with partners to
become China’s closest partner in the region. In March
2022, the Solomon Islands and China signed a security
establish a multilateral strategic grouping that supports
agreement, ostensibly aiming in part to address “internal
Pacific Island countries as they build their capacity and
resilience as secure, independent actors.”
threats,” including protecting Chinese-owned businesses in
the country. SI’s decision to switch diplomatic recognition
The U.S. Agency for International Development provides
from Taiwan to China in 2019, combined with inter-ethnic
assistance to the Pacific Islands focusing on disaster
tensions, culminated in anti-government demonstrations
prevention and response, climate resiliency, and sustainable
and unrest in Honiara, the SI capital, in 2021, including
fisheries. Other assistance priorities include supporting
rioting and the burning of properties in the city’s
government and civil society, digital connectivity, energy,
Chinatown. Some U.S. and Australian observers fear the
health, and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in PNG.
pact could lead to a PRC military presence in the Solomons.
The United States has shiprider agreements with 12 PICs,
Security Challenges and Responses
allowing local law enforcement officers to embark on U.S.
The United States works with allies and partners,
naval and coast guard ships in order to board and search
particularly Australia and New Zealand, to address potential
vessels suspected of violating laws and to combat IUU
PRC security threats in the region. Some analysts assert that
fishing. Over half of the world’s tuna is harvested in the
PRC infrastructure projects in the region, such as building
region. The Department of State provides annual assistance
or upgrading airports and seaports in Kiribati, Samoa, the
to Pacific Island parties to the South Pacific Tuna Treaty to
Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu, could be converted for PRC
support sustainable fisheries ($31 million in FY2022 and
military use. In 2018, Australia outbid China to upgrade
FY2023). The Biden Administration requested to increase
Blackrock military camp in Nadi, Fiji. That same year,
this aid to $60 million annually for ten years (as part of the
Australia and the United States agreed to jointly develop
$810 million it pledged in September 2022).
Lombrum naval base in PNG to preempt PRC investment.
The Freely Associated States
The United States, Australia, and Japan have cooperated on
The Compacts of Free Association grant the United States
efforts to deter PRC telecommunications investments in the
the prerogative to operate military bases in the FAS and to
region, which some analysts say could pose potential
make decisions related to their external security. They also
threats to cybersecurity. In 2019, Australia financed an
entitle the FAS to U.S. security guarantees and economic
undersea telecommunications cable connecting PNG, the
assistance. In 2023, the United States signed bilateral
Solomon Islands, and Australia, thereby precluding Chinese
agreements with the RMI, FSM, and Palau to extend
telecommunications firm Huawei from undertaking the
Compact economic assistance for another 20 years ($7.1
project. In 2022, however, the Solomon Islands unveiled a
billion in total, including $634 million to continue the U.S.
plan to borrow $100 million from a PRC bank to fund
Postal Service in the FAS). In November 2023, H.J.Res. 96
Huawei’s construction of 161 cell towers. In 2020 and
was introduced to approve the agreements and amend the
2021, the United States, Australia, and Japan partnered to
Compacts. (See CRS In Focus IF12194, The Compacts of
finance undersea telecommunications cables for Kiribati,
Free Association.)
Micronesia, Nauru, and Palau.
International Assistance
Bougainville
Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the United States are
In a nonbinding 2019 referendum, 98% of the inhabitants of
the top foreign assistance donors in the region. Most U.S.
the island of Bougainville in PNG voted for independence.
assistance to the region is provided to the FAS pursuant to
The Bougainville and PNG governments are in the process
the Compacts. Other major aid providers include China, the
of negotiating a roadmap for independence, which requires
European Union, and Taiwan. As of 2023, Taiwan has
approval by the PNG parliament.
diplomatic relations with four PICs (RMI, Nauru, Palau,
and Tuvalu), down from six in 2018, while China has
Thomas Lum, Specialist in Asian Affairs
relations with ten. The PRC provides most of its
Joseph O. Yinusa, Research Assistant
development assistance in the form of loans rather than
grants, which some analysts say could lead to unsustainable
IF11208
debt burdens and greater PRC leverage among some PICs.
https://crsreports.congress.gov
The Pacific Islands
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to
congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.
Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has
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reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include
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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF11208 · VERSION 10 · UPDATED