Palauans can decide themselves between US and China

I was in Palau in September when, by coincidence, an article was published in the Island Times that described the Compacts of Free Association as American “imperial” oppression in service to a “Permanent Oceanic Empire.”

All in all, the article argues Americans are harmful. Remove them and all will be well. But what really got my attention was that the article quoted me. And the quote was placed “front and center.” Here it is:

“’This relationship that the freely associated states has with the United States is unprecedented,'” Col. Grant Newsham (ret.) told Congress as (COFA) negotiations were ongoing in June 2023. They may be ‘the only three countries on Earth that have given up their sovereignty and control of a part of their government to the United States.’”

This is what I said. But it is not what I said. The quote was from my US Congressional testimony last year. And the meaning was very different than the reporter suggests.

I was highlighting to the US Congress, Capitol Hill, and American officialdom in general the importance of the COFA agreements with Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Marshall Islands.

I emphasized that the United States should value and prioritize this relationship – and pass the renewal of key elements of the COFA agreements immediately. As for giving up sovereignty, I emphasized the voluntary decision by Palau and others to enter the Compact is, in fact, an act of trust that needs to be properly valued in Washington.

As my written testimony underlined, “the COFA agreements can be terminated. Additionally, even if the United States has the sole legal right to conduct military operations in the COFA states – and even set up military bases if it wants to do so, local