US, Marshall Islands to speed up economic assistance deal to counter China’s Pacific influence
- US special envoy Joseph Yun and Foreign Minister Kitlang Kabua said they ‘aim to complete the Compact of Free Association talks by late fall or early winter’
- The move came amid Beijing’s increased economic and military engagement with Pacific island nations, which are hungry for foreign investment
The United States and the Marshall Islands agreed to try to reach a deal on American economic assistance this year, a statement seen by Reuters on Friday showed, a sign of momentum in talks as Washington worries about China’s expanding Pacific influence.
Joseph Yun, US special envoy for Compact of Free Association (COFA) negotiations, was in the Marshall Islands this week for the first in-person talks with the strategic Pacific island country since December 2020. The next talks will be in Washington in late July.
A joint statement said Yun and Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Kitlang Kabua hoped to sign a memorandum of understanding by September with the “aim to complete the Compact talks by late fall or early winter.”
It said the two sides affirmed the importance of continuing US economic assistance beyond 2023, when it is due to expire.
The statement came as China underlined its ambitions on Friday by launching a third aircraft carrier. Only the US, with 11 carriers, has more of the vessels, although Beijing is still honing its ability to integrate them into battle groups, something Washington has been doing for decades.
Yun and Kabua also discussed the legacy of US nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands, the statement said, an issue that had been a sticking point before Yun’s appointment in March.