The Biden administration aims to allocate $7.1 billion in funding for three Pacific Island nations with which the United States has economic and defense ties, a U.S. official said on March 23, in a move to counter Beijing’s influence in the region.
State Department official Jane Bocklage told a congressional hearing that President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2024 budget request included $7.1 billion in funding for the Marshall Islands, Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).
The funds would be paid out over 20 years to extend the Compacts of Free Association (COFA) agreements, which allow the United States to provide economic aid to the three countries in exchange for permission to operate defense bases there….