TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The U.S. has signed an agreement with Palau, a formal diplomatic ally of Taiwan, that authorizes U.S. ships to enforce maritime regulations within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The U.S. Coast Guard said on Tuesday (Aug. 29) that the agreement will allow U.S. ships to enforce regulations inside of Palau’s EEZ without a Palauan officer present, per AP. The agreement comes after several reported incursions by Chinese vessels into Palau’s EEZ.
“This agreement helps Palau monitor our exclusive economic zone, protect against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and deter uninvited vessels from conducting questionable maneuvers within our waters,” Palauan President Surangel S. Whipps Jr. said in a statement.
Whipps said recently that he was interested in increased U.S. support for securing Palau’s EEZ, as Palau’s own patrol vessel is not big enough to challenge unauthorized entries from foreign ships, particularly those from China. He said that Chinese vessels had entered Palau’s EEZ without authorization under the pretense of sheltering from bad weather.
However, Whipps said he believed they were conducting research on communications infrastructure that supported U.S. military installations in the country.
Whipps also said Chinese ships were naming parts of an extended continental shelf that connects Palau and Japan underwater, and conducting illegal fishing activities that hurt ocean ecosystems. He said he had wanted to send Palau’s 30-40-meter patrol boat to challenge these vessels (one of which was 150 meters in size), but the U.S. had advised against it.
“We have these joint committee meetings twice a year with the U.S. military, and we bring up these issues and challenges that we have,” Whipps said. “I think it’s time for some destroyers to show up and say ‘what are you doing in our waters?,” he said in July.
The agreement expands upon the access the U.S. military has to Palau, provided by the Compact of Free Association between the two countries. The U.S. also has Compact of Free Association agreements with the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the latter of which is also a formal ally of Taiwan.
The U.S.-Palau agreement is the latest in a series of actions taken by the U.S. to increase its presence in the Pacific, as China increases its influence in the region.
In February the U.S. opened an embassy in the Solomon Islands after a security deal between China and the Pacific Island nation caused the governments of the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand to voice their concerns about the impact this would have on regional security. Meanwhile, in July, the U.S. appointed a new ambassador to the Marshall Islands who previously worked in roles involving countering Chinese influence.
