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The US and Micronesia have agreed to renew their strategic pact known as Cofa, Joe Biden’s presidential envoy Joseph Yun has said, adding that he hopes for similar progress with Palau as the US shores up support among Pacific island countries to counter competition from China.
Yun said the Compact of Free Association with Micronesia would be signed on 22 May at a ceremony in Papua New Guinea, attended by the US president, Joe Biden, and the new Micronesian president, Wesley Simina.
Yun said he expected to be in the Marshall Islands from Thursday until Sunday, but was “doubtful” its Cofa agreement could be finalised at the moment.
Washington first reached the Cofa accords with the three island countries in the 1980s, under which it retains responsibility for their defence, provides economic assistance and gains exclusive access to huge strategic areas of the Pacific in return.
Renewing the Cofa agreements has become a key part of US efforts to push back against China’s bid to expand its influence in the Pacific. The old Cofa provisions expire in 2023 for the Marshall Islands and Micronesia and in 2024 for Palau.
Yun said he initialed the agreement with his Micronesian negotiating counterpart, Leo Falcam, and would formally sign it with him next week in Port Moresby on the sidelines of a second summit between the US and Pacific island leaders.
“It’s absolutely a done deal,” he said, adding: “I am [now] going to go to Palau where I hope to make similar progress.”
Biden will next week become the first sitting US president to visit Papua New Guinea after a G7 summit in Japan, underscoring his investment in the Pacific region.
Yun gave no reason for the holdup with the Marshall Islands, but parliamentary elections are expected there in November.
Washington has already signed memorandums of understanding on future assistance with the three Cofa states. Yun said last month the “topline” agreements would provide them with a total of about $6.5bn over 20 years.
Asked about the Marshall Islands, another senior US official said: “This is no longer about the amount of money but … about how the money will be structured and how it will be spent and what issues it will cover.
“These are always politically very, very sensitive in each country,” he said, adding, using the initials of the Republic of the Marshall Islands: “In the longer term, I’m very optimistic that we will get an agreement with RMI.”
Last year, more than 100 arms control, environmental and other activist groups urged the Biden administration to formally apologise to the Marshall Islands for the impact of US nuclear testing there and to provide fair compensation.
Marshall Islanders are still plagued by health and environmental effects of the 67 US nuclear bomb tests from 1946 to 1958, which included Castle Bravo at Bikini Atoll in 1954 – the largest US bomb ever detonated.
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