“Pacific Partnership” with its new colonies: The USA is given the power to deny other states access to three previously sovereign nations in the Pacific.

A series of bills signed by President Joe Biden on Saturday will provide financial assistance to the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau, which the U.S. has recruited as allies in the Pacific to help maintain its hegemony in the region in the face of rising China. The legislation was part of a renewal of strategic agreements Washington signed with the three nations last year. 

These agreements, known as “Compacts of Free Association,” grant the three nations visa-free travel, some federal government services, and financial assistance. In return, the United States has the right to deny other nations access to their airspace, seas, or land in an area that lies along vital sea lanes connecting the Philippines and Hawaii.

The US “containment strategy”, which is linked to a military encirclement of China and an economic and information war against the country, began more than a decade ago. (Headline screenshot Foreign Policy)

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement Saturday that the administration’s continued support of the pact is essential to national security, the Indo-Pacific and the Pacific Partnership. The U.S. government had urged Congress to support the pact. With the proposal in limbo on Capitol Hill since October, the administration argued that not providing funds to three countries would create a loophole and diplomatic opportunity for China.

Other nations in the region that were also dealing with internal problems have looked to Australia, China, or India. 

Asia is a chessboard of American imperial strategists where the empire must win at all costs. Incidentally, it is striking that very little is said about economics in these chess games and it is assumed that moves can be made without understanding that economics ultimately determines everything and sets clear limits to the possibilities of chess players. [Source: Screenshot Think tank or Advocacy tank CSIS.org with one Republican and one Democratic co-chair]

Rather than extending their hand to Australia like they had traditionally done, the Salomon Islands inked a security and policing agreement with China.

In a high-profile move, Nauru recently shifted its allegiance from Taiwan to China. This is expected to result in increased investment in Nauru as well as increased influence from China over the small Pacific island nation.

But unlike the United States, China is not turning them into colonies and vassal states and taking away their sovereignty over their territory. In a letter published by Eastern Angle, the President of Palau even went so far as to confirm in writing that the country had ceded sovereignty to the United States. 

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This article was first published in the Asian internet magazine Eastern Angle.