“This is a national security issue not only for Palau but also Taiwan and the US. If there is a ‘D-Day,’ the Chinese will be able to cut cables in Palau, activate devices on rooftops, whatever they can to delay a US response to Chinese aggression.”
Across Palau, 
businesses and developers have leased land or built properties for tourism developments near a half-dozen strategic locations where the US is beefing up efforts to detect and deter China’s growing reach into the region, including a US coastal surveillance outpost and a US “over the horizon” radar system. (Palauan law doesn’t allow foreigners to buy land, but they can lease it for up to 99 years.)
These leases or buildings potentially provide Beijing with not only a bird’s-eye view of the increasing American footprint in Palau but also opportunities to disrupt US military activities here.
Some of the projects have connections to groups allegedly linked to organized crime; these groups could act as proxies for Beijing, complementing the expansionary goals of the CCP.
“The Chinese are very sophisticated. They play the long game. They know exactly what they’re doing and so we’ve got to be smarter.”
China has been aggressively increasing its influence across the South China Sea and into the Western Pacific, seeking to become the predominant maritime power in the region.
The location of Palau, a Micronesian archipelago of more than 300 islands east of the Philippines, has long made it strategically valuable.
Palau is an important link in the Second Island Chain. The US military, which has broad access in Palau as part of a compact of free association, sees the island nation as a small but key piece of its strategy to quickly disperse forces and project power in the region.
Palau is one of only 3 Pacific nations that still recognize Taipei over Beijing.
Palau’s president Surangel Whipps Jr said that soon after he was first elected in 2020, he received a call from ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia, who offered a “million” tourists a year to fill Chinese-built hotels — in exchange for Palau’s abandoning Taiwan.
Beijing has studied US force projection closely and knows that facilities in places like Palau are critical to American readiness. “It’s very clear they want to do what they can to disrupt US operations as best they can using whatever means they have available.”
In Palau there’s a surge in violence, drugs and corruption involving nationals that Whipps claims is designed to pressure Palau to recognize China.
Whipps has cracked down on foreign, and especially Chinese, influence in Palau. Since his reelection in Nov, his administration has deported dozens of people, denied more than 150 tourist visas or work permits, and added more than 100 names to its list of undesirable aliens. In all three categories, the majority of people have been Chinese, including some with land leases near strategic sites.
The pattern of overpriced land leases in strategic but often economically unviable locations fits with Beijing’s modus operandi.
“Leasing land is certainly the right of the landowner under Palauan law. But you’ve got to wonder when you see where the Chinese are doing it, the prices that they’re doing it and what they do with the land after they lease it. It just raises a lot of questions, a lot of suspicion.”
The US Embassy in Palau has asked the Trump administration for more assistance, including a senior US law enforcement official with experience in combating Chinese organized crime and a DEA agent to tackle trafficking and corruption, plus a rotation of 5 US police officers and a pair of prosecutors to handle cases involving Chinese suspects.
Transnational organized crime linked to China was “evolving” in the region. “We’ve seen the CCP deepen its influence to undermine Pacific regional security, damage economies and endanger citizens.”
DOGE has canceled the final months of a contract for some US security assistance in Palau.
businesses and developers have leased land or built properties for tourism developments near a half-dozen strategic locations where the US is beefing up efforts to detect and deter China’s growing reach into the region, including a US coastal surveillance outpost and a US “over the horizon” radar system. (Palauan law doesn’t allow foreigners to buy land, but they can lease it for up to 99 years.)
These leases or buildings potentially provide Beijing with not only a bird’s-eye view of the increasing American footprint in Palau but also opportunities to disrupt US military activities here.
Some of the projects have connections to groups allegedly linked to organized crime; these groups could act as proxies for Beijing, complementing the expansionary goals of the CCP.
“The Chinese are very sophisticated. They play the long game. They know exactly what they’re doing and so we’ve got to be smarter.”
China has been aggressively increasing its influence across the South China Sea and into the Western Pacific, seeking to become the predominant maritime power in the region.
The location of Palau, a Micronesian archipelago of more than 300 islands east of the Philippines, has long made it strategically valuable.
Palau is an important link in the Second Island Chain. The US military, which has broad access in Palau as part of a compact of free association, sees the island nation as a small but key piece of its strategy to quickly disperse forces and project power in the region.
Palau is one of only 3 Pacific nations that still recognize Taipei over Beijing.
Palau’s president Surangel Whipps Jr said that soon after he was first elected in 2020, he received a call from ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia, who offered a “million” tourists a year to fill Chinese-built hotels — in exchange for Palau’s abandoning Taiwan.
Beijing has studied US force projection closely and knows that facilities in places like Palau are critical to American readiness. “It’s very clear they want to do what they can to disrupt US operations as best they can using whatever means they have available.”
In Palau there’s a surge in violence, drugs and corruption involving nationals that Whipps claims is designed to pressure Palau to recognize China.
Whipps has cracked down on foreign, and especially Chinese, influence in Palau. Since his reelection in Nov, his administration has deported dozens of people, denied more than 150 tourist visas or work permits, and added more than 100 names to its list of undesirable aliens. In all three categories, the majority of people have been Chinese, including some with land leases near strategic sites.
The pattern of overpriced land leases in strategic but often economically unviable locations fits with Beijing’s modus operandi.
“Leasing land is certainly the right of the landowner under Palauan law. But you’ve got to wonder when you see where the Chinese are doing it, the prices that they’re doing it and what they do with the land after they lease it. It just raises a lot of questions, a lot of suspicion.”
The US Embassy in Palau has asked the Trump administration for more assistance, including a senior US law enforcement official with experience in combating Chinese organized crime and a DEA agent to tackle trafficking and corruption, plus a rotation of 5 US police officers and a pair of prosecutors to handle cases involving Chinese suspects.
Transnational organized crime linked to China was “evolving” in the region. “We’ve seen the CCP deepen its influence to undermine Pacific regional security, damage economies and endanger citizens.”
DOGE has canceled the final months of a contract for some US security assistance in Palau.Quote
Byron Wan
@Byron_Wan
Belmond Hotel, owned by Zhang Zhengrong, overlooks Palau’s Malakal Harbor, which will be upgraded by the US military next year so that US warships can enter the Pacific island nation’s narrow channels and dock there. The wharf will be expanded and elevated. There will be a new
Show more Zhang Zhengrong, overlooks Palau’s Malakal Harbor, which will be upgraded by the US military next year so that US warships can enter the Pacific island nation’s narrow channels and dock there. The wharf will be expanded and elevated. There will be a new
