Posted on 15 June 2023
Last week, an Indo-Pacific Task Force was launched by the U.S House Committee on Natural Resources in order to combat China’s increasing presence in the region.
The Task Force was established to examine issues facing territories and states, and provide recommendations for advancing US interest and combat China’s influence in the Pacific.
Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman says that the “The PRC has built a strategy to dominate the island nations and U.S. territories in the Pacific as a platform for the projection of its power. This strategy is a direct threat to our influence and economic interests in the region.”
Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva also weighs in, stating “Our relationships with the U.S. territories and Freely Associated States in the Indo-Pacific region are critical to our national security, especially as we face mounting encroachment and aggression by the People’s Republic of China."