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1 1 (August 17, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/goveihx0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congress tonaI Research SerVice inforrnina [he IeuaIslve debat siniC 114 Updated August 17, 2022 The Pacific Islands Overview The Pacific Islands region in the Southwest Pacific has emerged as an area of keen interest to major powers, largely due to the People's Republic of China's (PRC's) expanding engagement in the region. The region has strategic significance for the United States and hosts key U.S. military installations. Congressional considerations include bolstering diplomacy in the region, funding assistance in such areas as climate change, sustainable fisheries, and economic development, addressing security threats posed by China, and extending economic and other assistance for the Freely Associated States (see below). Some Pacific Island countries (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. PICs were among the first countries to ratify the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. PIC leaders agreed on an expanded concept of security in the 2018 Boe Declaration on Regional Security, which states that climate change remains the single greatest threat to the Pacific. 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 to the Pacific Islands on climate change, illegal fishing, and COVID-19 vaccines. In May 2022, Fiji became the first PIC to join the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, an initiative launched by the Biden Administration to bolster U.S. economic engagement in the region. In August 2022, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman made stops in Samoa, the Solomon Islands (SI), and Tonga, as well as Australia and New Zealand, and participated in discussions to hear PIC priorities for cooperation with the United States. In 2022, the U.S. government announced plans to build new embassies in Kiribati, the Solomon Islands, and Tonga, and to appoint a U.S. Envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), the region's main multilateral organization. Bills in the 117th Congress that support these efforts include S. 4648 and S. 4650. Geopoital Context The PICs are scattered over a broad expanse of ocean and 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, where France has territories and military bases. Australia and New Zealand maintain strong relations with much of the region, particularly in Melanesia. The PIF has 18 members-14 PICs, two French overseas collectivities, Australia, and New Zealand. The organization recently has faced discord. In 2021, the five Micronesian countries threatened to withdraw from the organization over a leadership dispute, and in July 2022, Kiribati, which has strengthened its relations with China in recent years, formally withdrew. The United States and the Regon U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, based in Hawaii, encompasses the Pacific Islands as part of its area of responsibility. The U.S. military has air and naval bases on Guam and operates the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The Department of Defense is building a high-frequency radar system in Palau. The U.S. military has ties with Fiji, PNG, and Tonga, the only PICs with regular armed forces. The Biden Administration's Indo-Pacific Strategy (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 Region and Subregions Source: Congressional Research Service The United States has shiprider agreements with 11 PICs, allowing 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 to Pacific Island parties to the South Pacific Tuna Treaty to support sustainable fisheries. The Biden Administration

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