US Aims to Allocate Over $7 Billion in Aid for Pacific Islands to Counter China

A general view of Rock islands in the Pacific island nation of Palau on Feb. 15, 2018. - Palau had urged the U.S. military to build bases on its territory, which lies in a region where Washington is pushing back against growing Chinese influence. Mikhail Flores/AFP via Getty Images

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).