New Delhi: Lying 3,815 miles southeast of India, the Republic of Palau — made up of approximately 340 islands, islets, and atolls — is the latest Pacific Island country to be drawn onto the emerging battleground between the US and China.
The US and Palau signed a bilateral law enforcement agreement last week allowing the US Coast Guard to enforce regulations at sea in Palau’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on behalf of Palau, in the absence of a Palauan officer.
The Palau EEZ is an area adjacent to the territorial sea. The coastal state has sovereign rights within the exclusive economic zone to explore and utilize the natural resources of the waters adjacent to the seabed and of the seabed, as well as to engage in other economic exploitation and exploration activities within the zone, such as the generation of energy from the water, currents, and winds.
The signing of the agreement with the US, on the sidelines of the fifth annual Joint Heads of Pacific Security meeting held on 23-24 August in Palau, comes at a time when China is trying to increase its footprint in the Pacific Island countries (PIC), which includes Palau, because of its geostrategic importance.
According to information shared by China’s foreign affairs ministry, the country has so far established diplomatic relations with 10 PICs.
China has also been flexing its muscles against Palau in recent months.
In May, a Chinese research vessel reportedly showed an apparent interest in Palau’s underwater fiber optic connection during a journey into the Palau waters, slowing down as it passed the area.
The research vessel reportedly entered Palau’s EEZ without providing any notification on the afternoon of 24 May.
In June, Palau’s President Surangel S. Whipps Jr., in an interview with Reuters, accused China of undertaking surveying operations in the waters off Palau, claiming that perhaps Beijing was punishing his nation for its position on Taiwan, which China sees as a breakaway province to be brought under Chinese control.
Palau, located less than 2,000 miles south of Japan, 3,815 miles southeast of India, and about 950 miles southeast of the Philippines, is one of the countries that recognises Taiwan and maintains diplomatic relations with the island.
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Pacific Islands new battleground for US-China rivalry
Although the Pacific Islands has grown to be another battleground in the U.S-China supremacy conflict, Washington has longstanding ties and interests in the area that go far beyond its animosity toward Beijing.
The Pacific Islands are geostrategically significant, particularly owing to their importance for maintaining critical logistical supply lines and projection of military force, according to a 2020 analysis by The Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organisation.
The logistics for maintaining crucial supply routes for the US and its allies in the region would be significantly affected, if China is able to entrench a military presence in the Pacific Islands.
The Brookings Institution analysis calls this possibility a “high-impact risk” for Australia specifically, given that it has defence capabilities to support US-led coalitions.
In June this year, the US in an effort to boost ties with the PIC, renewed its economic assistance to Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia for the next 20 years. The US also reportedly hopes to renew the agreement with the Republic of Marshall Island as well.
These three countries lie in a militarily strategic northwestern Pacific.
While China is reportedly seeking a permanent military presence in the Pacific Islands, Chinese mining and construction firms are said to have increased operations in several Pacific island countries.
In 2014 and 2018, President Xi Jinping reportedly made two visits to the South Pacific region and held meetings with leaders of PICs having diplomatic ties with China.
‘Presence is deterrence’
During the signing of the pact with the US, Palau’s President Whipps reportedly said, “Presence is deterrence. This agreement significantly strengthens presence and enforcement options to counter illicit maritime activity in Palau’s EEZ.”
America’s agreement with Palau is reportedly similar to one concluded by the US with the Federated States of Micronesia at the end of last year.
In May, the United States and Papua New Guinea too reportedly signed a defence and maritime cooperation pact, and conducted their first combined marine operations in July.
Palau’s Compact of Free Association (CFA) with the United States — a financial assistance commitment by the US — was first agreed in 1986 and came into effect in 1994.
While the terms of the CFA are indefinite, the economic elements of the agreement are for a 50-year term, with periodic reviews. Negotiations for the latest review began last year. Under the CFA, the US in exchange for exclusive military operating rights, provides Palau with financial assistance.
The US has similar CFAs with two other PIC nations — the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI).
Washington prioritised strengthening its ties with the nations with which it has CFAs in its Pacific Partnership Strategy, announced in September last year.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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