China Bribed, Spied in Micronesia to Suppress Opponents: Former President

CCP approached a regional governor, who “confided in me and said, ‘Mr. President, of course I told them No, because that would be treason,’” Mr. Panuelo said.

David Panuelo of Federated States of Micronesia speaks during the Pacific Parliamentary and Political Leaders Forum at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, on April 18, 2013. Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

Chinese communist agents engaged in bribery and espionage in Micronesia as part of an effort to suppress negative views of the regime’s attempted expansion in the region, according to the former president of the Pacific island nation.

In response, then-President David Panuelo sent a series of now-leaked letters to fellow members of his government, warning them about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “political warfare” in the region.