By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Washington should keep the American territories in the Pacific “economically and socially healthy” to keep China at bay, a Pacific security expert said, advocating for a “block and build” strategy to stamp out Beijing’s influence in the insular areas.
Cleo Paskal, a nonresident senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, noted that Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa play “an outsized role in the defense of the nation.”
“Given their locations, they are also highly sensitive to strategic shifts, as they are on America’s frontline and at the end of long logistics lines,” Paskal said in her testimony before the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs.
The panel's March 5 hearing focused on the U.S. territories' role in homeland security and U.S. military strategy in the region.
Paskal said the U.S. territories, along with freely associated states, “have been
targets of multiyear, broad-spectrum political warfare attacks that seek to overwhelm them and open the path for conditions more friendly” to China.
“In Guam or CNMI, a goal along those lines might be to make U.S. forces unwelcome or to push for independence,” Paskal said “This is not to say there aren’t legitimate concerns about U.S. military activity or the relationship with the federal government but that those concerns can be exploited and distorted by outside actors who don’t have the best interest of locals at heart.”
Rep. Jeff Hurd, the subcommittee chair, agreed that the U.S. territories need more national support amid the region's "increasingly hostile geopolitical environment," ranging from hypersonic and ballistic missiles to espionage attempts.
“It is more important than ever for us to be proactive in our support of the Pacific territories
to keep our nation strong and secure,” Hurd said,
noting the need to work closely with the Department of Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs to ensure the safety of the Pacific territories.
In her testimony, Paskal recommended the “block and build” framework, which constitutes “blocking illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive China-linked activity while building economic and social resilience.”
She suggested, among other things, the abolition of federal policies that impede the territories’ growth and those that leave the gate open for China’s entry.
“One example of a ‘small’ thing that would make a big build difference is a waiver from cabotage,” Paskal said.
Currently, only U.S. carriers can fly between U.S. destinations, enabling United Airlines to monopolize the CNMI-Guam market, hence the exorbitant airfares.
“This has put severe constraints on CNMI’s ability to diversify tourism and develop alternative business, and it raises healthcare and education costs,” Paskal said. “Waiving cabotage would mean, for example, that a Japanese
carrier could fly Tokyo-Saipan-Guam, lowering costs and opening up new markets. Indeed, United’s role in the region as a whole deserves serious attention.”
The CNMI, whose economy is driven by the currently stagnant tourism industry, is particularly susceptible to China’s pressure.
After the demise of the Chinese-dominated garment sector in 2008, the CNMI turned to the controversy-filled Chinese casino, which at its peak boosted the local economy but opened the floodgates for human trafficking, birth tourism, labor abuse, money laundering, drug smuggling and public corruption.
Chinese travelers can enter the CNMI visa-free under the Economic Vitality & Security Travel Authorization Program.
The commonwealth economy’s dismal performance has triggered mounting pressure to open the gate wider for China by calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation to lift the cap on direct flights from China to CNMI.
“The default is always China, China, China,” Paskal said. “The argument is that the CNMI needs more tourists, specifically Chinese ones. There is a conspicuous
lack of alternatives offered — for example, offering similar EVS-TAP entry conditions to Indian tourists and business people or pushing for changes to cabotage to make things easier for the Japanese market.”
As part of the "build" strategy, she recommended the dismantling of bureaucratic barriers to accelerate federally funded programs such as post-disaster response; the establishment of a center, possibly at the Northern Marianas College, that works with the elders and local practitioners to research and educate on the political evolution of the region; unlocking the potential of the American Samoan fisheries; and the establishment of a fast ferry service between Guam and Rota to bring in military tourists and improve connectivity.
“Fundamentally, the goal of all of this is to ensure that the cost/benefit analysis
of taking Chinese money to sell out your country changes and that the people
of the American territories are given a way to prosper without ever-present
illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive activity by China destroying their communities, dividing their families, and making them live in fear," Paskal said.
The “block” component of the recommended framework includes border security.
“The Department of Homeland Security should require all tourists entering CNMI to have the same visas as tourists entering the rest of the United States,” Paskal said. “Immigration and Customs Enforcement could publish records showing the numbers of foreigners entering CNMI and Guam without exiting when their visas expire.”
She backed an earlier proposal from Alexander Gray, senior fellow in National Security Affairs, who suggested that the FBI open an additional field office
on Guam and satellite offices in the CNMI and American Samoa to “support both defensive efforts but also assist in wider-regional intelligence and counterintelligence operations with Pacific island partners,” such as the freely associated states.
Rep. Uifa’atali Amata Radewagen said American Samoa is particularly vulnerable to China’s presence given its neighbors’ ties to Beijing.
“Right now, my congressional district is surrounded on three sides by countries that have increasingly entered China’s orbit,” said Radewagen, American Samoa's delegate to Congress.
The Cook Islands and independent Samoa recently signed major deals with China, while Kiribati has begun to further align with China.
“On top of that, Chinese fishing vessels have increasingly penetrated American Samoa’s EEZ in conducting IUU fishing in the region,” Radewagen said.
“To protect United States sovereignty, we must develop the economies of the Pacific territories, and to protect American Samoa’s economy we need a permanent Coast Guard presence to deter China in the region," she added.
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