Last month, during a high-level meeting in Honolulu, the US Indo-Pacific Command and the Federation of Micronesia (FSM) agreed to build a new base in the island nation, an archipelago of more than 600 islands located in the Western Pacific, about 5,600km from Hawaii.
This move is considered one of the continuous efforts of the Joe Biden administration to strengthen the US's mark in the ocean.
However, up to now, detailed information about this base is very scarce, causing concern for some Micronesia citizens about the disruption of their lives and the idea of US military expansion in the region.
Sam Illesugam, 41, has many questions about the new military base: How big is it? What kind of facility?
There are still many questions for us, Illesugam told The World.
Illesugam, who is currently living and working in the US territory of Guam, still has brothers, sisters and another family in Yap, one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia. any sudden change will change the social landscape of our islands, he said. Our islands are very, very small. Any changes in lifestyle will affect us a lot.
Today, the US Indo-Pacific Command has about 375,000 military and civilian personnel working across the Asia-Pacific region.
Micronesia did not answer The World's question about how or if, they plan to notify the public. But President David W. Panuelo has made it clear that the deal he made to build a US military base was for the benefit of the people of Micronesia, which was guaranteed by a very special relationship with Washington.
The countries in the free association treaty are truly part of our homeland and therefore we are protected by the United States, President Panuelo told ABC after the meeting in Hawaii.
The Federation of Micronesia is an island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, northeast of Papua New Guinea. This country is a sovereign state that is freely associated with the United States. The Federation of Micronesia was formerly part of the Pacific Islands Trust Area, a United Nations Trust Area governed by the United States. 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In addition to the Federation of Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands also signed the Free Trade Union Treaty with Washington. These treaties are renegotiated every few years and through that, the three countries have received hundreds of millions of USD in aid.
Satu Limaye, vice president of the East-West Center, said there is also an important military clause in the agreements, allowing citizens to join the US military. The most recent version of the tu doan treaty requires the US to protect the Federation of Micronesia and give it the right to use facilities, bases, and locations.
