Talks on US military access to Marshall Islands falter even as Blinken visits Pacific to counter China

Marshallese diplomat Gerald Zackios said President Biden has not appointed a negotiator to discuss the renewal of the Compact of Free Association Agreement

His comments came as the US Secretary of State, who is in Australia for the Quad summit, said Washington remains focused long-term on the Indo-Pacific region

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A tropical atoll in the Marshall Islands. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 2:04pm, 10 Feb 2022Updated: 4:12pm, 10 Feb 2022

Even as America’s top diplomat visits the Pacific region seeking to counter China’s growing power and influence, the Washington ambassador of the tiny Marshall Islands said talks aimed at renewing agreements covering access for the United States military have stalled.

The envoy, Gerald Zackios, said there had been no talks on renewing its Compact of Free Association Agreement (COFA) with the US since the end of the Trump administration in 2020, in spite of the priority the Biden cabinet has attached to boosting Indo-Pacific engagement.

Zackios said this was because Washington had not appointed a negotiator empowered by President Joe Biden to discuss key issues beyond US economic help, including remuneration for the legacy of massive US nuclear testing on the islands, the presence American military bases, and climate change mitigation.

A senior official of the Biden administration said last week it plans to launch a new Pacific Islands initiative with allies and partners and to finalise COFA negotiations with the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau, but gave no time frame.

The compacts are due to expire in 2023 in the former two states and in 2024 in Palau.