Defense News

U.S. defense officials are concerned the military may lose access to crucial staging ground in the Pacific region — and potentially cede it to China — because of a lapse in funding held up in Congress.

At risk are a set of agreements dubbed Compacts of Free Association, or COFA, under which the U.S. provides aid and other services to three island states: Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. In return, those countries allow America exclusive military access to their territory, which in total is larger than the continental United States when including their surrounding waters.

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