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1 1 (April 25, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govegnh0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congress bnal Res arch Serice inforrnint the iltie dLmt sinc 1914 Updated April 25, 2022 The Pacific Islands Overvi ew In recent years, the Pacific Islands region in the Southwest Pacific has re-emerged as an area of keen interest to major powers, largely due to the People's Republic of China's (PRC's or China's) expanding engagement in the region. The region has strategic significance for the United States and hosts key U.S. military installations. Major issues affecting the Pacific Islands include international tensions, economic development, illegal fishing, climate change, and issues related to self-determination and decolonization. The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) is the region's main political and economic policy organization with 18 members: 14 Pacific Island countries (PICs), two French overseas collectivities, Australia, and New Zealand. Some PICs, such as Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Fiji, are relatively large with extensive natural resources; others are quite small, sitting on top of low-lying coral atolls, with limited economic prospects and high vulnerability to the effects of climate change and sea level rise. Over half of the world's tuna is harvested in the region. Many PICs rely on fisheries, tourism, and remittances for revenue. Although their remoteness helped most PICs to minimize Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections, travel and border restrictions have disrupted tourism and trade. In February 2022, Antony Blinken visited Fiji, the first U.S. Secretary of State to visit the country in 26 years, as part of an effort to bolster U.S. engagement in the region. Blinken pledged assistance on climate change, COVID-19 vaccines, and illegal fishing, and announced that the State Department would reopen its embassy in the Solomon Islands (SI) after 29 years. Geopohitkal Context The PICs are scattered over a broad expanse of ocean and are divided among three sub-regions-Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia (see Figure 1). The United States has long held major economic and strategic roles in the Micronesian subregion, home to two U.S. territories (Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands) and to the Freely Associated States (FAS)-Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), and Republic of Palau-which have special economic and security ties with the United States. U.S. territory American Samoa lies in the Polynesian subregion. Australia and New Zealand maintain strong relations with much of the Southwest Pacific, particularly in Melanesia. The United States and the Region The United States has significant military assets in the Pacific. U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, based in Hawaii, encompasses Oceania as part of its area of responsibility. The IInited States has air and naval hnses on Guam and an intercontinental ballistic missile test site (Ronald Reagan Missile Test Site) on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, which also supports space surveillance activities. The Department of Defense is building a high-frequency radar system in Palau. The United States has military ties with Fiji, PNG, and Tonga, the only PICs with regular military forces. The Biden Administration's Indo-Pacific Strategy, released in February 2022, states that the United States will work with partners to establish a multilateral strategic grouping that supports Pacific Island countries as they build their capacity and resilience as secure, independent actors. Figure I. The Pacific Islands Ri Source: Congressional Research Service. The United States has shiprider agreements with 11 PICs, which allow local law enforcement officers to embark on U.S. naval and coast guard ships in order to board and search vessels suspected of violating laws and to combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. The Department of State provides $21 million annually in assistance to Pacific Island parties to the South Pacific Tuna Treaty (SPTT) to support sustainable fisheries in the region. The Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provide development assistance to the Pacific Islands region focusing on disaster prevention and response, climate resiliency and environmental protection, government and civil society, digital connectivity, fisheries, energy, basic health, and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in PNG. In 2019, the Department of State launched a new Pacific Islands regional assistance program. Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States collaborate on the Papua New Guinea Electrification Partnership, launched in 2018, which assists PNG in expanding access to electricity. In 2019 and 2020, the Department of State, as part of its Pacific Pledge, committed a total of $300 million in new

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