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Micronesia

Micronesia
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Micronesia. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
Capital
Palikir
Head of State
President Wesley Simina
Head of Government
President Wesley Simina
The airport runway is located on Woleai, an atoll in Micronesia’s Yap state. Photo: X/Cleo Paskal
US-China relations

China’s rebuilding of Micronesian airport runway raises alarm in US

At least two Chinese companies appear to be involved in the Woleai project in the strategically important region.

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Pacific nations

A ‘ghost fleet’ of Japan’s rusting WWII wrecks is poisoning this Pacific paradise

Japan

Japan dives deep in race for rare earths, stirring a green backlash

Pacific nations

Most Pacific island women don’t work. The World Bank wants to change that

Outdated laws and social norms keep 57 per cent of working-age women across the Pacific out of the labour force, the bank says.

A stallholder displays her wares to tourists at a market on Rarotonga in the Pacific nation of the Cook Islands earlier this month. Photo: AFP
US-China trade war

My Take | The United States, not China, turns out to be the real bogeyman

The significance of Trump’s tariffs is that they have destroyed the credibility of America on which its global alliances have long depended.

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United States

My Take | Donald Trump’s tariff madness targets not only allies but animals

Penguins, seals and seabirds have not been spared in America’s global trade war, likewise territories with significant US or allied military assets.

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Japan

Japan talks with Pacific islands focus on climate, security issues take back seat

Among the areas of concern highlighted by Pacific island nations was Japan’s release of treated radioactive water.

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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (bottom row, second from left) and other participants of the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting in Tokyo pose for a photo on Thursday. Photo: Kyodo
Israel-Gaza war

My Take | International court prosecutor rises to historic occasion

In applying for arrest warrants for top leaders of Israel and Hamas, Karim Khan of the International Criminal Court has stood up for global justice and international law against the manipulated so-called rules-based order.

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Australia

My Take | Playing defence Mini-Me for the US will cost Australia dearly

The complaint by Canberra about the latest Chinese military flare-up close to China’s coast is not only hypocritical but highly escalatory.

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US-China relations

Asian nations take steps to cope with geopolitical concern amid US-China rivalry

In this week’s issue of the Global Impact newsletter, we look at how Asian nations have been making moves with an eye on the ever evolving relationship between China and the United States.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Photo: Reuters
Pacific nations

Solomon Islands ‘locks in’ China ties with another pro-Beijing prime minister

New prime minister Jeremiah Manele is expected to apply a “lighter touch” to ties with Beijing given the demand for greater transparency.

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shakes hands with Solomon Islands then Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele at an event in Beijing in 2019. Manele has been chosen as the Solomons’ new prime minister. Photo: Reuters
Japan

To counter growing Chinese presence, Japan coastguard to train Pacific nations

The Mobile Cooperation Team initiative was first set up in 2017 as part of Tokyo’s efforts to train and equip the coastguards of Southeast Asian nations that felt threatened by China’s presence.

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Pacific nations

‘Calling for change’: will Solomon Islands lean closer to China after its polls?

Geopolitics looms large over the polls in Solomon Islands, where Beijing and Washington have been vying for influence for years. But for voters just struggling to make ends meet, Wednesday’s election may be decided by issues much closer to home.

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China’s military

Will China’s fourth aircraft carrier steer towards troubled waters in Asia?

The US Navy has an edge over its Chinese counterparts in terms of firepower and access to its supply bases in the region, analysts say.

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China’s Shandong aircraft carrier is seen docked at a naval port in Sanya, Hainan province, in 2019. Photo: Xinhua via AP
US-China relations

A US governor in the Pacific plans ‘lonely’ pivot away from China

Long tied to Beijing for tourism and gambling income, Northern Mariana Islands needs more aid from Washington, says governor.

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Illustration: Davies Christian Surya
Tourism

Palau luxury cruise, for dazzling coral, white sand beaches, and war relics

The coral islands of Palau in the western Pacific are best visited by boat, and catamaran Four Seasons Explorer offers a new option for visitors to a nation with conservation in its constitution.

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US-China relations

Guam’s defence is top priority in Pacific amid China military inroads: Pentagon

Congress hears plea for more funding, speed and capability to protect strategically vital American territory as PLA enhances its missile technology.

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Pacific nations

Warily eyeing China’s influence, US talks up US$7.1 billion in Pacific aid

Leaders in the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau had warned that delays could have forced their governments to cut services, and swayed public opinion towards offers of investment from China.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets (from left) Marshall Islands Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Jack Ading, Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jnr and Micronesia’s President Wesley Simina (right) in September last year. Photo: AP
US-China relations

US knew Nauru might cut ties to Taiwan before it did, official says

Daniel Kritenbrink, an assistant secretary of state, tells Senate hearing ‘we had known for some time [of Nauru’s concerns] … in this instance, they decided to flip’.

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Japan

Japan may be making its biggest security move in the Pacific Islands since WWII

Talks on March 19 are expected to involve Japan’s Self-Defence Forces and police taking part in local and regional responses as well as training.

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Pacific nations

US Senate passes funds for Pacific island nations after congressional delays

Deals for Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau, intended to counter China’s influence in the region, win passage as part of appropriations package.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (centre right) with, from left, Marshall Islands Foreign Affairs Minister Jack Ading, Palau’s President Surangel Whipps Jnr and Micronesia’s President Wesley Simina, on September 26, 2023, in Washington. The Senate has approved a bill renewing Compacts of Free Association with the three island nations. Photo: AP
Pacific nations

House Republicans add Pacific nations deals to bill ‘countering Communist China’

A federal budget impasse has hindered funding for the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau as Beijing deepens ties in the strategically vital region.

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US House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, speaks during a news conference with House Republican leadership in Washington on Thursday. Photo: Getty Images/TNS
Pacific nations

US’ funding deadlock may pave the way for more Chinese influence in the Pacific

The lack of urgency is causing alarm inside the United States among those hyper-aware of the speed at which China may step in while Congress dawdles over a small sum of money by aid standards.

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US-China relations

Palau president raises threat of pivot to Beijing if US aid is delayed further

In letter to US senator, President Surangel Whipps Jnr writes that local leaders want to gain more financial aid from Beijing ‘at the cost of shifting alliances, beginning with sacrificing Taiwan’.

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Pacific nations

US still seeks delayed Pacific funds amid China push in region: senior diplomat

‘Critically important to continue to work’ in support of Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau, all omitted from US$95 billion foreign aid package.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (centre right) meets with (from left) Marshall Islands Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Jack Ading, Palauan President Surangel Whipps, Jnr and Micronesian President Wesley Simina at the State Department in Washington on Sept. 26. Photo: AP
Taiwan election 2024

‘What’s next’ as China’s Pacific island diplomatic wins mount?

After Nauru’s diplomatic switch from Taipei, experts are watching for shifts in regional security, balance of power.

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, right, and Nauru’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Lionel Aingimea shake hands after signing a joint communique on the resumption of diplomatic relations between China and Nauru at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing last month. Photo: AP
Trending in China

New discovery suggests first Austronesian people inhabited area beyond Taiwan

Archaeologists discovered evidence of a very early Austronesian society on an island off the coast of China, expanding original ideas about where they lived.

Pacific nations

Pacific islands need US funds else China war more likely: Micronesia ex-leader

War between Beijing and Washington ‘may become imminent and may become inevitable’ without American lawmakers’ approval of deals, says David Panuelo.

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