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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| China infiltrates key Pacific territory of Micronesia with infrastructure projects as US urged to act |
| 2026-01-29 |
| [FoxNews] Chinese-backed runway on strategically vital Yap island set to open Feb 9 as experts warn Beijing is gaining foothold in US defense zone China’s expanding push into the Pacific Islands is raising alarms among experts, who warn that Beijing is quietly working to establish a foothold in territory long viewed as vital to American defense. Rather than deploying troops or building overt military bases, experts say China is using infrastructure projects, political influence and economic leverage to gain access to strategically sensitive areas across Micronesia, a region tied to the United States through decades-old security agreements. Fox News Digital has learned that a Chinese-backed runway on the island of Yap is due to be officially opened during a handover ceremony on Feb 9. The president of the Federated States of Micronesia is expected to attend, along with representatives from the Chinese company involved in the project. One of the experts tracking the developments, Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) senior fellow Cleo Paskal, traveled to the Federated States of Micronesia to see them firsthand. She told Fox News Digital she spent four days sleeping on the open deck of a Chinese-donated cargo ship in order to witness a Chinese company breaking ground on a project to rehabilitate a World War II Imperial Japanese runway. "It’s not a huge runway, but what it does is it gets China in the door and on the ground in a very strategic location," Paskal said. The project is located in the state of Yap, a remote east-to-west island chain that sits along key maritime and air routes connecting Hawaii, Guam and East Asia. U.S. military planners have long considered Yap one of the most strategically important locations in the Pacific. Paskal said the same Chinese company involved in the runway is now working on another major infrastructure project on Yap: the reconstruction of a bridge on the main island. "At the same time, because of how strategic it is, Secretary Hegseth announced not that long ago about $2 billion worth of defense infrastructure investment for Yap," she said. "Now, when he says Yap, what he means is the main island of Yap." According to Paskal, that distinction matters. "The story here is that the Department of War is focused on the main island, but, from what I’ve seen, there are no plans for the rest of the island chain," she said. "Meanwhile, the Chinese are using other entry points into the political and economic system in order to start to break open access to Yap." She described China’s approach as fundamentally different from Washington’s. "So it’s not just a physical kinetic infrastructure operation," Paskal said. "It’s also a political warfare operation, whereas the U.S. is focusing more just on a very narrow band of the kinetic map." Related: Micronesia: 2025-02-21 China flexes its military muscles as warships sail close to Australia in 'unprecedented' move of aggression Micronesia: 2025-02-11 Compact of Free Association (COFA)-The Greenland Solution Micronesia: 2024-11-19 The Long Con: Diabetes Cases Quadruple Over 30 Years; WHO Urges Lifestyle Changes |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #1 |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2026-01-29 13:33 |