The US Congress has approved legislation to provide $7.1 billion worth of economic support for three tiny Pacific Island nations - Palau, the Marshall Islands and the Federated Republic of Micronesia - in exchange for the exclusive presence of the American military there, according to the Financial Times (FT).
The newspaper reported that the funding was okayed on Friday within the framework of the Compacts of Free Association (COFA) and as part of a $460 billion spending package passed by the Senate to avoid a government shutdown. The White House has not commented on the matter yet.
The FT cited Senator Dan Sullivan as saying that the approval of the $7.1 billion legislation “serves our [US] interests in pushing back on the Chinese Communist Party’s aggressive regional designs.”
Such moves have previously provoked uproar from China, which has repeatedly expressed concern over what Beijing slams as the US "meddling" in the Asia Pacific region and "strengthening the Asia-Pacific deployments."
"This is full of a Cold War mindset. The US’ goal is to achieve its own selfish gains and to maintain its hegemony. Its nature is to stoke confrontation," Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian told reporters.
This was preceded by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warning of far-reaching repercussions from a military pact earlier signed by the US and Papua New Guinea,
"The existence of this pact […] can only be interpreted as another step forward toward militarizing the Asia-Pacific region, escalating military tensions and dragging Port Moresby into Washington’s geopolitical games aimed against Russia and China," Zakharova stressed.