A Reuters Special Report
Inside the #US battle with #China over an island paradise deep in the Pacific
Once the site of ferocious WWII battles, #Palau is again at the epicenter of a geostrategic tussle. America is building radar stations here, while individuals & groups tied to China wage an intense #influence campaign with money & land.
#geopolitics
https://www.reuters.com/investigations/inside-us-battle-with-china-over-an-island-paradise-deep-pacific-2025-04-30/
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage & bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the #Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle.
#Palau, where brutal WWII clashes once unfolded, is again on the frontline as #China & the #UnitedStates & its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the #AsiaPacific region.
The #democratic island nation of just 17,000 people hosts American-controlled airstrips & soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the #USmilitary describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water & airspace. It is also a key piece of the Second Island Chain, a string of strategically located islets that #America is fortifying in an effort to deny #China access to the #WesternPacific.
#Palau, along with #Guam & #PapuaNewGuinea, are part of the Second Island Chain, a string of islands that the #US sees as a bulwark against #China’s access to the Western Pacific.
Now, that outsized strategic value has made Palau the target of a concerted #influence campaign by individuals w/ties to the Chinese govt, acc/to intelligence reports, police files, court records & land filings…, as well as interviews with >20 diplomats & local law enforcement officials.
Nonilex