KOROR (Asia Times/Pacnews) â Tiny Palau invited the U.S Pentagon to build ports, bases and airfields on its Pacific islands after Chinese President Xi Jinping bullied the Pacific island nation by destabilizing its fragile economy, according to defiant President Surangel Whipps Jr.
âPresident Whipps' frank assessment of Chinese pressure â and invitation to host U.S bases â are unusually blunt for a Pacific leader,â Australia Pacific Security College Director Meg Keen said in an interview.
There is a âhigh-stakes rivalry going on,â between China and the U.S, she said.
âPacific nations may have small populations and landmass, but should be seen as 'large ocean states' intimately connected to other island nations of the âBlue continent.â