U.S. Blocks Micronesian Leaders Over Corruption Linked to China

The U.S. Department of State (DoS) announced this week that it was barring two high-profile public officials from Palau and the Marshall Islands for “significant corruption,” as the US confronts Beijing’s efforts to grow its influence across the Pacific.

According to a DoS statement, Palau Senate President Hokkons Baules and his immediate family have been barred from entering the U.S. "for his involvement in significant corruption on behalf of China-based actors." Additionally, former mayor of the Kili/Bikini/Ejit community within the Marshall Islands, and Anderson Jibas and his immediate family, have been barred for Jibas’ involvement in significant corruption and misappropriation of US provided funds during his time in public office.”

“Baules abused his public position by accepting bribes in exchange for providing advocacy and support for government, business, and criminal interests from China. His actions constituted significant corruption and adversely affected U.S. interests in Palau,” DoS Spokesperson Thomas “Tommy” Pigott informed in a DoS press release. "His actions constituted significant corruption and adversely affected U.S. interests in Palau."

The DoS accused Jibas of “theft, misuse, and abuse of funds” related to the U.S.-funded Bikini Resettlement Trust, which was intended for the Kili/Bikini/Ejit survivors and descendants of U.S. nuclear bomb testing that occurred during the 1940s and 1950s.

“The lack of accountability for Jibas’ acts of corruption has eroded public trust in the government of the Marshall Islands, creating an opportunity for malign foreign influence from China and others,” the release adds.

Palau and the Marshall Islands are just a few of the remaining nations with diplomatic relations to Taiwan, the self-governed nation in East Asia, which Beijing claims to be its own.

The designations come amid an escalating and tense strategic competition between Washington and Beijing over influence in the Pacific.

"The United States will continue to promote accountability for those who abuse public power for personal gain and steal from our citizens to enrich themselves," the State Department affirmed. "These designations reaffirm the United States' commitment to countering global corruption affecting US interests."