Biden in late push to boost Indo-Pacific ties sends three pacts to Congress

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is seeking to shore up ties with countries in the Indo-Pacific in its waning days in office by sending to Congress three key agreements that would cement relations with critical allies and partners in a region increasingly dominated by China.

In separate notices sent to lawmakers on Tuesday, President Joe Biden asked for their approval of a civil nuclear cooperation deal with Thailand and the ratification of free association agreements with the Pacific island nations of Palau and the Marshall Islands.

None of the agreements is expected to meet with significant opposition from the incoming Trump administration, which in its last two years in office in 2019 and 2020 also sought to improve U.S. relations with these countries and their neighbors, mainly to counter growing Chinese influence.

The 30-year civil nuclear agreement with Thailand, which will take effect in 90 days barring congressional objections, will allow the transfer of sensitive but unclassified nuclear equipment, material and information designed to help the Southeast Asian nation meet its growing energy needs.

The so-called “compacts of free association” with Palau and the Marshall Islands, along with one for the Federated States of Micronesia, were approved in general by lawmakers earlier this year. But on Tuesday, Biden sent to Capitol Hill the specifics of the $7.1 billion agreements for Palau and the Marshall Islands.

Under the terms of the deals, the island nations will benefit from a variety of U.S. agencies, notably disaster relief, weather forecasting and postal services. And, in the documents released on Tuesday, banks based in Palau and the Marshall Islands will be eligible to apply for backing from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for their financial institutions.

FDIC insurance protects account holders from bank insolvency by guaranteeing that deposits up to a certain limit are covered by the federal government.

The Freely Associated States have a combined population of less than 200,000 spread across more than 1,000 islands and atolls, about 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) southwest of Hawaii.

In addition to Guam, the three states give the U.S. military a forward presence in the Pacific, including a missile test facility in the Marshall Islands and a high-frequency radar system being built in Palau.

The countries have had strong ties to the U.S. since American forces liberated them from Imperial Japan in World War II, but China has been working hard to win influence among them.