As China’s sway over Pacific islands grows, will Japan counter by coming to Palau’s aid?

Anson’s concerns don’t end there. She also noted that Chinese ships have been sighted conducting research activities in Palau’s extended continental shelf area – a development that has analysts worried.

“China could very well be testing the water to see how the Quad nations react and their commitment to the Pacific states,” he told This Week in Asia.

“There is no reason to panic, but these nations need to be alert so that Pacific island countries do not turn to China, as we have already seen happen.”

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Palau’s 600,000 sq km EEZ is “quite vast for our small island,” national security coordinator Anson said. “That is, with our limited resources, to be able to monitor [it], to be able to provide the surveillance that we need to know what is going on.”

Anso, who is in Japan to take part in the 10th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting in Tokyo that began on Tuesday, said her government is particularly interested in receiving information from Tokyo about the ships operating off Palau as that data is not currently available to the island nation.

She emphasised the importance of the two-day conference, which is regularly hosted by Japan for 18 Pacific nations and territories, given China’s growing influence in the region.

Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor of politics and international relations at Waseda University, said a relatively straightforward first step for Japan to assist in monitoring the Chinese vessels would be for Tokyo “to provide satellite data of all vessels in Palau’s waters and to monitor their movements.”

“It may be a little more difficult to soon provide patrol craft or other equipment, but the government here is certainly thinking about it,”