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Micronesian Islands Meet Against Backdrop of Great Power Competition

Micronesian governments are elevating unilateral hedging efforts in forums like the MIF, in pursuit of a unified risk-management strategy and regional identity.

Leaders and Heads of Delegation at the 28th Micronesian Islands Forum.

From August 17 to 21, leaders and heads of delegation throughout the Micronesian subregion convened for the 28th Micronesian Islands Forum (MIF). Held in Pohnpei – one of four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and home to a population of roughly 26,000 people – delegates met to discuss ongoing regional issues and identified areas for strategic collaboration under the theme “Promote Healthy Communities, Open Doors to Learning.” 

I attended the MIF as the head of Delegation and Special Representative for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a non-sovereign United States territory. As great powers pursue their foreign policy agendas, the event in Pohnpei revealed a continuing trend often overlooked in the Pacific: Micronesian governments are elevating unilateral hedging efforts in forums like the MIF, in pursuit of a unified risk-management strategy and regional identity. 

This year, the MIF met weeks before the more prominent Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting, which is being held in the neighboring Micronesian country of Palau from August 30 to September 4. Seated in the front row of the forum’s audience were senior members of the diplomatic corps posted in the FSM, including ambassadors representing Australia, China, and Japan, and the United States’ newest Chargé d’Affaires to Palikir, who arrived in the country just a week before the MIF. 

The venue itself was striking: the State of Pohnpei Administrative Building and Governor’s Office, built by Beijing in 2007 and renovated last year by the Chinese government and state-owned contractors. The Federated States of Micronesia have had formal diplomatic relations with Beijing since 1989, and is the only U.S. Freely Associated State – all of which are located in Micronesia – that maintains such a relationship.

Chinese Ambassador to FSM Wu Wei speaks at the handover ceremony of the State of Pohnpei Administrative Building, Jan. 10, 2025. Photo courtesy of the Embassy of China in FSM.

China and the United States are not the only development partners competing in Pohnpei. Just two kilometers north of the Governor’s Office off the Dekehtik Causeway, Japan’s government is investing 4.6 billion yen ($30 million) in a project to expand the Pohnpei Port, the FSM’s primary maritime gateway. In the Pohnpeian outer island of Pingelap, Australia has financed a solar mini-grid and battery storage system for a geographically disconnected island community. These recent investments showcase the strategic importance of MIF member states to great powers and are not unique to FSM.

Officials from Japan, the State of Pohnpei, and the National Government of the Federated States of Micronesia break ground on the Pohnpei Port expansion project, Oct. 8, 2025. Photo courtesy of the Embassy of Japan in FSM.

Similar practices can be found elsewhere across Micronesia. Foreign direct investment, infrastructure improvements, and diplomatic engagement have become increasingly visible in a region where small island economies are often balancing relationships with several development partners at once. For Micronesia, these relationships are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The same governments that have maintained a historically close partnership with the United States can pursue infrastructure and development partnerships with Japan, Australia, China, and others, depending on domestic needs and priorities.

The discussions held at the MIF centered around the outcomes of the forum’s several standing committees, including the approval of resolutions focused on U.S. deep sea mining efforts in Micronesia, the........

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