US Senate passes funds for Pacific island nations after congressional delays

Five months behind schedule, the US Senate on Friday approved promised economic assistance for three allied Pacific island nations to blunt China’s influence in the strategically vital region.

The delayed funding for the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau under the Compacts of Free Association (Cofa) found its way through a US$460 billion appropriations package passed by the Senate hours before a midnight Friday deadline to narrowly avert a federal government shutdown.

The upper chamber voted 75 to 22 in favor of the six-bill package that will finance the federal government through September 30.

The Cofa deals were originally meant to be passed as part of the federal budget in October, when the new fiscal year began.

The House of Representatives passed the bill 339-85 on Wednesday. It now heads to President Joe Biden for his signing into law.

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US pledges support to Pacific Islands, rivalling China’s influence

First signed in the 1980s, the Cofa agreements provide the United States exclusive military access to strategic swathes of the western Pacific in exchange for economic help. They are seen as indispensible to Washington’s efforts to maintain its presence in the region.

Amid growing fears of what some have called Beijing’s coercive influence campaign in the Indo-Pacific region, US President Joe Biden last year pledged US$7.1 billion over 20 years to the three island nations – about US$120 million a year. The Cofa agreements were renewed last year in September.

Last week, House Republicans added the Cofa pacts to a bill they introduced to “counter Communist China”. But by Sunday, Democrats and Republicans agreed to include the pacts in the compromise spending package.

“Thank you to the people of Palau, Marshall Islands