JESSICA STONE* Congress is reviewing a proposal from President Joe Biden to create new security guarantees for three Pacific Island states: the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau. If Congress passes the Compacts of Free Association by September 30, they would provide billions of dollars of economic and security assistance for the nations and would deny […]
GIFF JOHNSON and HILARY HOSIA Last week’s signing of an MOU for the Compact of Free Association was momentous for the Marshall Islands and the United States, coming less than a year since RMI Foreign Minister Kitlang Kabua took up her post and US Special Envoy Joseph Yun was named by President Biden to head […]
On arrival at Nitijela Thursday for a courtesy call with Speaker Kenneth Kedi soon after arriving in a US government jet, US Special Envoy for Compact negotiations Joseph Yun and his team were greeted Marshallese style with singing and leis in the Nitijela lobby, an island welcome for the visitors who were plied with handicrafts […]
WILMER JOEL US Special Presidential Envoy Joseph Yun and his delegation set foot on the Runit Dome in Enewetak for the first time last Friday. Minister Kitlang Kabua and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade hosted this visit. “We live in fear, fear of the bombs, guns, and nuclear,” were the words in a […]
GIFF JOHNSON Two senior US government officials are — or will be — in Majuro for high-level talks with RMI authorities this week. Wednesday’s first in-person JEMFAC meeting in three years is to be followed by one or more days of Compact negotiations late this week with the arrival Thursday of the chief US negotiator. […]
GIFF JOHNSON Much was written and said about last week’s US Pacific Islands Summit in Washington, DC, which was the first time a US president hosted a large group of Pacific heads of state at the White House. It generated multiple wire service stories and widespread media coverage around the globe, reporting on Washington’s effort […]
Special Presidential Envoy Joseph Yun paid a courtesy visit to President David Kabua at the RMI Embassy in Washington, DC Monday this week. Yun heads the US Compact negotiation team. President Kabua welcomed and thanked Yun for the time to meet in person as they were unable to meet in person earlier due to Covid-19. […]
GIFF JOHNSON United States and Marshall Islands leaders said after completing the first round of talks last week that they hope to complete negotiations to renew provisions of an economic and security treaty by the end of this year or early next year. Washington sees extension of funding packages under compacts of free association with […]
GIFF JOHNSON Nearly three years after the first in-person preliminary discussions were held between the US and the Marshall Islands for a third funding agreement in the Compact, negotiations resumed again this week with a two-day meeting at Kwajalein. The negotiations stalled after these first discussions were held in Pohnpei between President Trump’s Secretary of […]
GIFF JOHNSON “On a scale of one-to-10, with 10 being the best, I put my visit to Washington at 9.5,” said Speaker Kenneth Kedi in an interview with the Journal Wednesday this week. The Speaker was in Arkansas at mid-week, following a packed agenda in Washington, DC over several days last week with meetings with […]
