Mike Pompeo’s visit to Micronesia highlights US anxiety about rising Chinese influence in Pacific

Mike Pompeo has become the first US secretary of state to visit the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), underlining concerns about China’s growing influence in Pacific island nations where the US maintains exclusive defence access.

Experts say Beijing has intensified efforts to court these nations, seeking to gain a stronger foothold in their strategic waters, even as Washington’s top diplomat makes his rounds.

Pompeo on Monday met the leaders of FSM, the Marshall Islands and Palau – the three states with which the US maintains defence agreements known as Compacts of Free Association.

Negotiations had begun with the three states to renew the agreements, Pompeo said on Monday after meeting the leaders of the three nations.

Under current terms, the US military has exclusive access to the airspace and territorial waters of the FSM, the Marshall Islands and Palau. In exchange, the island nations – also referred to as the Freely Associated States (FAS) – receive economic assistance.

“Today, I am here to confirm the United States will help you protect your sovereignty, your security, your right to live in freedom and peace,” Pompeo told reporters in Pohnpei State, one of the members of the FSM.