washington — A last-minute bipartisan effort to add key funding aimed at countering China in the Pacific has failed in the US Senate even as a 95 bil
washington — A last-minute bipartisan effort to add key funding aimed at countering China in the Pacific has failed in the U.S. Senate even as a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan moved forward.
A renewal of the 20-year agreement known as the Compacts of Free Association or COFA was signed late last year, but $7 billion dollars to fund it is still struggling to find a path forward in the U.S. Congress.
Lawmakers tried to add funds for COFA to the aid package but no amendments to the legislation were considered prior to its passage early Tuesday morning.
Frustration about the delay in the passage of the funds is mounting in the three compact states: Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.
«Every day it is not approved plays into the hands of the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] 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,» wrote Palau’s president, Surangel Whipps Jr., in a letter obtained by VOA and sent to U.S. senators.
«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,» Whipps added, underscoring what’s at stake for U.S. national security.
In a letter to U.
