It has been about 80 years since the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, a bloody struggle against Japan during World War II that cost thousands of Americans their lives. Today, Congress is poised to squander their sacrifice for freedom by granting China a generational opportunity to severely undermine America’s security position in the Pacific.
At issue are three long-standing, bilateral Compact of Free Association agreements between the United States and the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau. In exchange for modest financial assistance, each agreement grants the U.S. strategic denial rights and defense exclusivity with these nations.
Strategic denial rights allow the U.S. to unilaterally block the Chinese, or any other military, from entering the countries covered by the compacts. Exclusive defense rights allow…
