Biden Sends Congress Indo-Pacific Pacts01/15 06:12

   

   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.