China infiltrates key Pacific territory of Micronesia with infrastructure projects as US urged to act

FIRST ON FOX: China’s expanding propulsion into the Pacific Islands is raising alarms among experts, who pass that Beijing is softly moving to found a foothold successful territory agelong viewed arsenic captious to American defense.

Rather than deploying troops oregon gathering overt subject bases, experts accidental China is utilizing infrastructure projects, governmental power and economical leverage to summation entree to strategically delicate areas crossed Micronesia, a portion tied to the United States done decades-old information agreements.

Fox News Digital has learned that a Chinese-backed runway connected the land of Yap is owed to beryllium officially opened during a handover ceremonial connected Feb 9. The president of the Federated States of Micronesia is expected to attend, on with representatives from the Chinese institution progressive successful the project.

One of the experts tracking the developments, FDD elder chap Cleo Paskal, traveled to the Federated States of Micronesia to spot them firsthand. She told Fox News Digital she spent 4 days sleeping connected the unfastened platform of a Chinese-donated cargo vessel successful bid to witnesser a Chinese institution breaking crushed connected a task to rehabilitate a World War II Imperial Japanese runway.

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Officials attended the groundbreaking ceremonial for the Woleai runway task successful Yap State, with the president of the Federated States of Micronesia lasting astatine center. May 2025.  (Cleo Paskal)

"It’s not a immense runway, but what it does is it gets China successful the doorway and connected the crushed successful a precise strategical location," Paskal said.

The task is located successful the authorities of Yap, a distant east-to-west land concatenation that sits on cardinal maritime and aerial routes connecting Hawaii, Guam and East Asia. U.S. subject planners person agelong considered Yap 1 of the astir strategically important locations successful the Pacific.

Paskal said the aforesaid Chinese institution progressive successful the runway is present moving connected different large infrastructure task connected Yap: the reconstruction of a span connected the main island.

"At the aforesaid time, due to the fact that of however strategical it is, Secretary Hegseth announced not that agelong agone astir $2 cardinal worthy of defence infrastructure concern for Yap," she said. "Now, erstwhile helium says Yap, what helium means is the main land of Yap."

According to Paskal, that favoritism matters.

"The communicative present is that the Department of War is focused connected the main island, but, from what I’ve seen, determination are nary plans for the remainder of the land chain," she said. "Meanwhile, the Chinese are utilizing different introduction points into the governmental and economical strategy successful bid to commencement to interruption unfastened entree to Yap."

She described China’s attack arsenic fundamentally antithetic from Washington’s.

"So it’s not conscionable a carnal kinetic infrastructure operation," Paskal said. "It’s besides a governmental warfare operation, whereas the U.S. is focusing much conscionable connected a precise constrictive set of the kinetic map."

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, besides wide caput of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and president of the Central Military Commission, meets with representatives of subject unit stationed successful northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, successful Urumqi, the determination capital, Sept. 23, 2025.  (Photo by Li Gang/Xinhua via Getty Images)

The geography astatine involvement has shaped American information strategy for generations.

During World War II, the lagoon astatine Ulithi, portion of the Yap land chain, served arsenic the largest U.S. naval basal successful the world, hosting hundreds of American warships arsenic the subject prepared for operations against Imperial Japan.

That history, Paskal said, helps explicate wherefore the portion remains truthful delicate today.

Under the Compact of Free Association, the United States retains exclusive defence rights successful Micronesia. The agreements let Washington to contradict subject entree to different powers, found defence facilities and support strategical control, portion granting Micronesian citizens the close to unrecorded and enactment successful the United States and service successful the U.S. military. The Compact creates specified heavy ties that Micronesia is considered portion of the U.S. home message system.

The compacts were designed aft World War II to guarantee Pacific islands erstwhile controlled by Japan could ne'er again beryllium utilized arsenic motorboat points for attacks against the United States.

But Paskal warned that China is uncovering ways to enactment around, and perchance undermine, those arrangements.

She said U.S. officials often absorption connected disposable operation sites portion underestimating the broader governmental run that enables Chinese entree successful the archetypal place. This includes cultivating ties with nationalist leaders, engaging section officials specified arsenic customs and migration officers and securing contracts done determination improvement banks successful bid to spot Chinese companies and unit connected the ground.

According to Paskal, Chinese firms are often consenting to sorb fiscal losses successful speech for semipermanent strategical positioning.

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The groundbreaking ceremonial for the Woleai runway task successful Yap State. Representatives of a Chinese institution clasp a banner connected stage. May 2025. (Cleo Paskal)

The interest is heightened by governmental shifts wrong Micronesia itself. While states specified arsenic Yap person historically been much resistant to Chinese engagement, the nationalist authorities has grown person to Beijing successful caller years.

Former president of the Federated States of Micronesia David Panuelo warned successful a March 9, 2023 missive that China was engaging successful governmental warfare, including alleged bribery and unit campaigns. He aboriginal mislaid his reelection bid, portion the existent authorities is viewed arsenic much receptive to China.

When asked by Fox News Digital astir China’s activities successful Micronesia, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy successful Washington said, "I americium not alert of the specifics."

The spokesperson emphasized that China views Pacific Island Countries (PICs) arsenic partners successful improvement and denied immoderate geopolitical intent.

"China ever respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of PICs," the spokesperson said, adding that Beijing has "never interfered successful the interior affairs of PICs, ne'er attached immoderate governmental strings, and ne'er sought immoderate geopolitical self-interest."

Paskal said this characterization is not accurate, pointing to what she described arsenic China’s targeted efforts to interfere with the interior decisions of 3 Pacific Island countries — Palau, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu — to admit Taiwan, including explicitly attaching enactment to derecognition.

The spokesperson’s connection added that the South Pacific should beryllium "a signifier for cooperation, alternatively than an arena for vicious competition," and insisted China’s engagement does not people immoderate country.

For U.S. information experts, however, the interest is not a azygous runway oregon bridge, but the gradual erosion of strategical entree successful a portion that has underpinned American defence for much than 80 years.

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The runway astatine Woleai successful Yap State, portion of a Chinese-backed infrastructure task successful the Federated States of Micronesia.

China adept Gordon Chang told Fox News Digital, "We mislaid truthful whitethorn American lives successful World War Two taking these islands from the Japanese. And present we are letting China predominate them. This is conscionable wrong. I can't, I get aggravated erstwhile I deliberation astir this. But the important constituent present is that we person the powerfulness to halt this," helium said.

"The 3 compact states are our closest subject allies, our closest allies afloat stop. We said that again. The 3 analyzable states successful the Western Pacific are our closet allies. Guam is really portion of the United States. So we person the powerfulness to halt this and we're not doing that. And this is present connected us, a strategical failure, a nonaccomplishment to recognize what China is doing. I anticipation that the medication starts to recognize the value of what's occurring and moves to artifact Chinese infiltration of the Western Pacific."

As Paskal warned, China’s run successful the Pacific is unfolding not done force, but done influence, access, patience and presence.

Neither the White House nor the Department of War responded to requests for remark from Fox News Digital.