Exclusive | Ex-president of Micronesia urges US to live up to funding promise, warns of China’s influence drive in Pacific
- US$7.1 billion for three Pacific nations under Cofa pact have been held up in US Congress amid a partisan clash over federal spending
- ‘Competing powers in the region’ want to see trust in the US fail, former Micronesian president David Panuelo warns in interview with the Post
Months after exiting office, the former president of the Federated States of Micronesia has urged American lawmakers to keep their promise of approving funds for the Compact of Free Association (Cofa) pact, warning that “nations can be looking elsewhere”.
The Cofa treaty has steered US ties with the strategically located Pacific island nation for decades.
The situation “puts our country in a very awkward position”, Panuelo added, since many legislations back home were counting on new levels of funding from Cofa renewals.
He called on the US to demonstrate the bipartisan support “as promised when we signed the treaties, and that funding would be forthcoming and supported” by both the Democratic and Republican parties.
After administering Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau under a UN trusteeship following World War II, the US signed international treaties with each as sovereign Pacific nations in 1986 and 1994 under the Cofa.