US Ally Warns Congress About Chinese Offer to Buy Its Allegiance

Palau’s President Surangel Samuel Whipps delivers a speech at the leaders summit of the COP27 climate conference at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Convention Centre, in Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of the same name, on November 8, 2022. Whipps has written a letter to the U.S. Congress warning them about China’s growing influence.

Palau’s leader has written a letter to a U.S. senator warning lawmakers about an offer from China to buy its allegiance.

President Surangel Whipps Jr. wrote to the unidentified senator about China’s attempt to get it to switch ties from Taipei to Beijing and curtail relations with Washington. The letter was shared on X, formerly Twitter, by Cleo Paskal, a non-resident senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“The PRC has already offered to “fill every hotel room” in our tourism-based private sector – “and more if more are built” – and $20 million a year for two acres for a ‘call center,'” Whipps wrote in the letter on February 9.

The Republic of Palau is a small island country in the western Pacific and a U.S. ally.

Pacific leaders including Whipps wrote a letter to Congress on February 6, urging the U.S. to sign the pending Compacts of Free Association. They said the delay in approving the agreement has sown uncertainty among their citizens and risks economic exploitation by competitive powers, in a thinly veiled reference to China.

“The legislation’s Agreement, initiated by President Trump, was to take effect last October 1. Every day it is not approved plays into the hands of the CCP and the leaders here (some of whom have done ‘business’ with the PRC) who want to accept its seemingly attractive economic offers – at the cost of shifting alliances, beginning with sacrificing Taiwan,” Whipps added.

This situation underscores the geopolitical competition between the U.S. and China for influence in the Pacific, a region that has become a focal point for geopolitical rivalry. With their strategic locations and resources, the Pacific Islands are caught in a tug-of-war, facing offers from China that could sway their allegiance.

Despite both parties agreeing on the critical aspects of the Compacts of Free Association, Congress has yet to approve the agreement. The delay is mired in the broader disputes within Congress over funding, leaving the deal in limbo.

Whipps stressed the importance of Palau as a U.S. ally in the Pacific.

“Together, our islands give the U.S. strategic control of the sea and air between Hawaii and Asia larger in area than the 48 contiguous United States – including shipping lanes that the PRC covets effectively extending the U.S. border for military purposes to Asia. A U.S. military expert testified that it would cost $100 billion to replace this militarily,” Whipps wrote in a letter.

Newsweek contacted the U.S. State Department for comment.

The presidents of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, nations historically wary of China’s intentions, have communicated their concerns regarding the future of the Compacts of Free Association with the U.S.

The agreements have been instrumental in establishing economic and defense ties between the United States and the Freely Associated States (FAS), offering the U.S. significant defense and security access in a crucial corridor of the Pacific, Paskal said in a recent article for The Diplomat on February 8.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said in a statement that Taipei has supported tourism to Palau to bolster the country’s economy.

“Taiwan has always supported the development of tourism in Palau and established national development policies of ‘economic resilience’ and ‘sustainable development,'” the ministry said, according to the official Central News Agency on Thursday.

“In the post-epidemic era, Taiwan has actively assisted Palau in revitalizing the tourism industry, maintaining the stability of direct flights between Taiwan and Palau, and strengthening Palau’s tourism economy,” it said.

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