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1 1 (November 14, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govenlw0001 and id is 1 raw text is: CongressbonaI Research Serv ce inforrnina [he Ieunslve debat sinice 1314 Updated November 14, 2023 The Pacific Islands Overview The Pacific Islands region in the Southwest Pacific has emerged as an area of growing interest to major powers, due to the region's strategic location and significant resources. The region has strategic significance for the United States; it includes the state of Hawaii, several U.S. territories, and three freely associated countries, and hosts key U.S. military installations. Congressional considerations include bolstering diplomacy in the region; funding assistance in areas such as climate change, sustainable fisheries, and economic development; addressing security and other threats posed by the People's Republic of China (PRC or China), including by working with allies; and extending assistance to the Freely Associated States (FAS, 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. Many PICs rely on fisheries, tourism, and remittances as their chief sources of revenue. PICs were among the first countries to ratify the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement on climate change. 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. The Trump Administration increased foreign assistance to the Pacific Islands, and the Biden Administration has further expanded U.S. engagement in the region. The Biden Administration held the first U.S.-Pacific Islands Forum Summit in September 2022, during which it announced the U.S. Pacific Partnership Strategy and other initiatives, as well as $810 million in additional expanded programs for the region, subject to congressional approval. At the second U.S.-Pacific Islands Forum Summit, held in September 2023, the Biden Administration announced that it would ask Congress for $200 million in additional funding for the region. Since 2022, proposed expanded programing for the region has included support for managing fisheries and combatting illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; addressing the effects of climate change; infrastructure investment; development financing; security cooperation; and digital connectivity and cybersecurity. Other U.S. efforts include the following: The United States has established new embassies in the Solomon Islands (SI) and Tonga, with plans to open embassies in Vanuatu and Kiribati. In 2022, the State Department designated Ambassador Frankie Reed as the first-ever U.S. Envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum. In 2022, Fiji became the first PIC to join the Indo- Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) initiative, launched by the Biden Administration in 2022. In May 2023, the United States and Papua New Guinea signed a Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) and an Agreement Concerning Counter Illicit Transnational Maritime Activity Operations. The DCA allows the U.S. military to develop and operate out of bases in PNG with the PNG government's approval. In September 2023, the U.S. government announced that it would establish formal diplomatic relations with the Cook Islands and Niue, two countries that have free association status with New Zealand. Bills in the 118th Congress that support the above and related efforts in the Pacific Islands region include H.R. 4538, S. 1220, and the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2024 (H.R. 2670, §§1368 and 6405). Figure I. The Pacific Islands Region and Subregions Source: Congressional Research Service G eopolitical Context The PICs are scattered over a broad expanse of ocean and divided among three subregions-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-Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), and Republic of Palau. 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.

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