Lawmakers Assure Pacific Island Leaders US Will Help Them Stand Up to China

WASHINGTON — Pacific island political leaders advised a congressional committee Thursday that China’s threat to them and the United States is growing as its military prepares for a possible invasion of Taiwan.

Guam, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands could reemerge as a focal point of conflict, similar to World War II, they said.

Unlike war with Japan, China is using its economic influence to undermine U.S. interests, said Lourdes Leon Guerrero, governor of Guam.

“If the U.S. does not engage actively, China will,” Guerrero told the House Natural Resources Committee during a field hearing in Tamuning, Guam.

Guam’s strategic location in the Philippine Sea means it is “sitting at the crossroads of Pacific powers,” Guerrero said.

Nearly 22,000 U.S. military personnel are stationed on the island, which has a population of 153,836 residents, according to the 2020 Census.

Guam is an unincorporated territory of the United States. Persons born in Guam are considered U.S. citizens.

The large U.S. military presence on Guam and nearby islands has not guaranteed their security, Guerrero and other island political leaders said.

“Because Guam can project power throughout the Indo-Pacific region, China is working to project equal power onto Guam and its sister islands,” Guerrero said.

In addition to continuing the U.S. military influence in the region, she seeks infrastructure investment and workforce development to ensure political and economic stability.

Lawmakers were prompted to hold their first field hearing on Guam in 15 years by recent Chinese actions they described as aggressive and “malign.”

They included accusations of a cyberattack, simulated military incursions, unauthorized entry of Chinese ships into restricted areas and offers of economic assistance that critics of China say are intended to project its influence rather than to help nearby countries.

“The [People’s Republic of China] seeks to dominate the Pacific and island people,” said Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee.

A bill pending in Congress, H.R. 560, seeks to help secure U.S. influence in the Western Pacific by creating incentives for more people to live in the Northern Mariana Islands, where a declining population is hurting its prosperity.

The bill, called the Northern Mariana Islands Population Stabilization Act, would grant permanent residence to some long-term foreign workers and investors.

“Help us help ourselves so we can be stronger partners in national security,” said Arnold I. Palacios, governor of the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, as he advocated for passage of H.R. 560.

Otherwise, China is “capitalizing on economic and security vulnerabilities” in the region, Palacios said.

The Pacific Island leaders also argued in favor of renewing the The Compact of Free Association. It is an international agreement establishing an association between the United States and the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau.

It grants the island nations access to U.S. domestic programs, such as duty free imports, educational grants and postal service.

In return, the United States is allowed to operate military bases on the islands.

The compact was approved by Congress in 1986 and renewed until this year. Congress is likely to renew it again.

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